GP practices can start referring patients to community pharmacies for seven common conditions – including sore throats and ear infections – from next week, NHS England has said.
NHS England has confirmed that Pharmacy First will launch on Wednesday January 31, after IT solutions were put in place to support the service.
In a letter to GPs, pharmacists and PCNs, the commissioner said that all four approved IT system suppliers ‘are upgrading their systems’ ready for the planned launch date.
The service will allow pharmacies to consult and prescribe in relation to seven common conditions and GP practices are advised to begin referring patients from the launch date.
According to NHS England, the service will ‘save up to 10 million general practice team appointments a year’ and help patients ‘access quicker and more convenient care’.
The letter, signed by NHS England national primary care director Dr Amanda Doyle, medical director Dr Claire Fuller and chief pharmaceutical officer David Webb, said: ‘Many practices are already making referrals into CPCS and we appreciate your continued support.
‘These practices should continue to use their established CPCS process to refer to the Pharmacy First service and should begin referring for the seven new conditions from Wednesday 31 January 2024.’
The seven conditions covered by Pharmacy First
- sinusitis
- sore throat
- acute otitis media
- infected insect bite
- impetigo
- shingles
- uncomplicated urinary tract infections in women
As part of the service, community pharmacy IT systems will automatically send details of patient consultations to general practice clinical IT systems via GP Connect.
However, GPs raised concerns around unintended workload consequences from having to check record updates made under the scheme.
NHS England said that ‘to streamline and improve workflow’ they have redesigned the way that pharmacy consultation outcomes can be captured in the patient record.
It added: ‘This will roll out throughout February 2024 and will mean that practice staff can review consultation information and add the data to the patient record with one click of a button.
‘Until this functionality is rolled out, practices will continue to receive information through NHSMail in line with existing processes.
‘NHS England are drafting a separate operational note to further support general practice and primary care networks. This will be available before the launch of this service.’
Under the scheme, community pharmacies will be allowed to prescribe antibiotics, which GPs to raise concerns surrounding antibiotic stewardship, however NHS England has said it will monitor the service for any impact on antimicrobial resistance.
The National Institute for Health Care Research is also leading an evaluation of the service that ‘will include any implications’ on antimicrobial resistance.
More than 10,000 pharmacies have registered to deliver the service to date, the NHS England said.
The letter added: ‘The rollout of Pharmacy First is a significant moment for pharmacy, primary care and the wider NHS.
‘The commitment to expand services in this way was a substantial commitment in our primary care access recovery plan and the NHS is delivering on our promise.
‘We are grateful for your continued dedication to the NHS as, together, we deliver innovative and new services for our patients and the public.’
NHS England will also launch a national campaign from mid-February to encourage the public to access advice and treatment from community pharmacy services for common conditions.
Following the scheme’s announcement, the Doctors’ Association UK urged the Government to urgently review why pharmacies are paid ‘more than double’ per consultation compared with GPs.
READERS' COMMENTS [5]
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Have these pharmacists completed an attachment in ENT? Do they know how to use an auriscope? If not then this is highly dangerous and reckless, further devaluing the GP.
First they took away OOH, then home visiting. Then they took away bits for pharmacists, ANPs, physios and PAs. Then they imposed QOFs, DESs and LESs. Now they’ve started taking away salaried and locum GPs. Throughout the years GPC and (let it be said) GP principals collaborated with, and appeased them (#Chamberlain #Munich #1938). Soon there will be no GPs and there’ll be no traditional continuity-of-care general practice left to fight for, or defend. The GPC reps should be shouting from the rooftops and all over MSMedia highlighting the Extinction Crisis in general practice and arguing for proper redistributive funding (a la Nordic mechanisms). Action Now, or never. Otherwise, when they come for the GP principals, who will shout out for them?
Where will the antibiotics monitoring be published? I predict big increase in use
I can’t believe this has passed with so little comment?
£645 into the pockets of Swiss owned Boots et al.
Pharmacy with it’s long list of evidence based treatments – cough mixture etc etc
I despair – this money should have been pumped into primary care where we could have employed pharmacists to do this and more. Pharmacists could have been employed to use there undoubted knowledge to much greater effect.
It’s a total disgrace.
completely agree with Mulder, the amount of misdiagnosis i see re ENT conditions in general practice is bad enough, but now pharmacists who have probably never examined a patient are expected to diagnose. this is completely unsafe. no doubt they won’t bother to examine they will just issue what the patient wants – ABs – what about antimicrobial resistance that is always shoved down our throats – lets see the stats on prescribing after this has been rolled out for a while! No doubt lots of oral ABs for OE. Also we will have all those patients who don’t get better and end up back with us anyway just delayed in presentation. Planning to emigrate anyway this just convinces me more its the right thing to do.