Pharmacy First : Updating patient records
The delivery plan for recovering access to primary care set out proposals for a Pharmacy First service that will enable community pharmacies to supply some prescription-only medication, where clinically Appropriate, for 7 common conditions (sore throat, infected ears, impetigo, shingles, infected insect bites, sinusitis and uncomplicated urinary tract infections in women) without the need for a GP appointment and a prescription. This also includes the expansion of the previous Community Pharmacy Consultation Service, Hypertension Case-Finding and Oral Contraception services.
Accessing Pharmacy First services
The following table shows the 7 conditions pharmacists can manage across various age ranges.
Clinical pathway | Age range |
Acute otitis media* | 1 to 17 years |
Impetigo | 1 year and over |
Infected insect bites | 1 year and over |
Shingles | 18 years and over |
Sinusitis | 12 years and over |
Sore throat | 5 years and over |
Uncomplicated urinary tract infections | Women 16-64 years |
* Distance selling pharmacies will not complete consultations for acute otitis media.
As part of the NHS England » Delivery plan for recovering access to primary care: update and actions for 2024/25 there will be a further focus on growing monthly patient volumes across all three pharmacy services by March 2025 by at least 71,000 blood pressure check consultations; 25,800 oral contraception consultations; and 320,000 Pharmacy First clinical pathways consultations. A review of the ambition of this trajectory will take place in September 2024, when public uptake of the service in the first 9 months is understood.
Pharmacy First : Updating patient records
As part of the commitment to roll-out a new Pharmacy First service, NHS England is funding improvements to the digital infrastructure between general practice and community pharmacy.
From April 2024 onwards, community pharmacy IT systems will start to automatically send details of a community pharmacy consultation to the GP clinical IT system, ready for a GP to check and update the patient’s record. This will remove the current need for staff to transcribe information from emails. GP clinical IT system suppliers will enable this functionality by default. Further supplier specific information is available:
EMIS: GP Connect Update Record
Benefits for GP practices
Pharmacy First services are easily accessible and trusted with minor and common illnesses services to patients. GP practices can signpost and refer to these services to move demand for minor and common illness support from general practice to pharmacy provision, which will help to create some much-needed extra capacity for GP practices to deal with more complex cases.
Benefits for patients
Pharmacy First offers patients an alternative resource for seeking support with several minor and common illnesses. It is expected that as with most specialised services, the wait times for Pharmacy First services will be shorter for patients.
Pharmacists are highly qualified health and medical professionals who specialise in treating minor and common illnesses, they will give patients excellent care stemming from their tailored expertise.
Resources
- NHS England » Pharmacy First
- Communication resources are available on the Campaign Resource centre Pharmacy assets | Help Us Help You – Primary Care Services | Campaign Resource Centre (dhsc.gov.uk)
- Pharmacy First: Information for GPs
- Pharmacy First service – Community Pharmacy England
- Get help with seven common conditions from your local pharmacy