In the Greater Glasgow NHS Board area, 33 per cent of the adult population smokes, rising to 37 per cent in Glasgow City alone. In some of the most disadvantaged communities, adult smoking rates are greater than 50 per cent.

In January 2000 Harold Shipman was convicted of the murder of 15 patients he was caring for as their GP. The subsequent public inquiry, chaired by Dame Janet Smith, looked at issues surrounding the police investigation, how the patients’ deaths were reported, the prescribing and handling of controlled drugs (CDs) and the regulation of health professionals. Of these issues, the one of most interest and perhaps concern to community pharmacists is CDs. 

From March 2006, standard and made-to-measure specialist compression garments for arm and leg lymphoedema have been available on the UK Drug Tariff. These are based on German compression standards[1] and provide higher levels of compression than those garments commonly used in venous disease (Table 1)