- The Pharmacy First service launches across England today
- One in twenty patients in England had to wait at least four weeks before seeing their GP
Millions of patients will no longer clog emergency room waiting rooms thanks to a new service where a pharmacist can offer treatment for a range of illnesses.
Launching across England today, the Pharmacy First service allows pharmacists to provide expert advice and dispense medicines for seven common conditions.
Earaches, impertigo, infected insect bites, shingles, sinusitis, sore throats and urinary tract infections in women can now be treated through the ‘game-changing’ service designed to ease pressure on the NHS.
NHS England hopes it will free up as many as 30 million GP appointments each year.
Figures released this month show that one in 20 patients in England had to wait at least four weeks to see their GP, while one in six had to wait two weeks or more.
The average number of patients currently seen by one GP in England is 2,290.
A survey carried out for Well Pharmacy shows that 75% of people are likely to seek advice or treatment from a pharmacy when the service is launched – 72% of men and 77% of women.
Launching across England today, the Pharmacy First service allows pharmacists to provide expert advice and supply medicines for seven common conditions (Stock Image)
Figures released this month show that one in 20 patients in England had to wait at least four weeks to see their GP, while one in six had to wait two weeks or more (File image)
Well – Britain’s largest independent pharmacy chain – believes that 60 to 70 percent of patients benefiting from the new service will be women with a urinary tract infection, a painful infection that has caused 1.8 million hospital admissions in England over the past five years .
Pharmacy head Ifti Khan said: “We have been training colleagues over the past few months and preparing for the influx of patients when Pharmacy First launches.
‘This truly ground-breaking service will bring fast and much-needed relief to millions of patients who previously had to endure long delays to see their GP.
‘From today, patients across England can literally think ‘Pharmacy First’ when they contract one of these common diseases.’
The Company Chemist Association says the initiative could fail unless GP practices are banned from recruiting more pharmacists.
The trade body, which represents leading chains such as Boots and Superdrug, says there are so many pharmacists now working for GPs that they are struggling to recruit for their stores.
Earache, impertigo, infected insect bites, shingles, sinusitis, sore throat and urinary tract infections in women can now be treated through the ‘game-changing’ service designed to ease pressure on the NHS (stock image)
The NHS has encouraged GPs to recruit non-medical staff such as pharmacists, physiotherapists and paramedics in a bid to close staff shortages and ease pressure on GPs.
But the CCA is now demanding an immediate freeze on hiring.
The shortage has pushed up locum pharmacy rates, increased trading costs and led to temporary closures, it added.
This is because pharmacies are not allowed to open unless there is at least one pharmacist on site.
Malcolm Harrison, chief executive of the CCA, said: ‘In its attempts to solve the GP shortage, the NHS has only created a shortage of community pharmacists and increased the cost of providing NHS care.
‘This short-sighted policy has been to the detriment of both public pharmacy and hospital pharmacy.
‘Pharmacists are being asked to take on more and more work to free up GP capacity, but for this we need pharmacists in the pharmacy again.’
