Same-day appointments at local pharmacies

Patients with minor health issues will be offered same-day appointments at their local pharmacy, under a new DHSC deal.

The new NHS Community Pharmacist Consultation Service will offer local pharmacy appointments to anyone calling NHS 111 about minor conditions. If successful, GPs and A&E will also start to refer patients to the service over the next five years.

Although patients will continue to have the option to see their GP or attend A&E if they want to, Health Secretary Matt Hancock has highlighted that one of the main aims of the deal is to make better use of pharmacists’ skills.

It’s estimated that up to six per cent of all GP consultations could be safely transferred to a community pharmacy - up to 20 million GP appointments per year. The new service could see millions of appointments being provided by community pharmacists where appropriate, relieving pressure on the wider NHS.

The new service is part of a list of services being announced as part of the new five-year Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework, which will take effect from October.

The framework gives almost £13 billion to expand the role of community pharmacy. Areas the framework will expand over the next five years include: online training for all pharmacists to spot the early signs of sepsis; developing and testing an early detection service to help identify people who may have undiagnosed cardiovascular disease; checking all patients with diabetes who come to the pharmacy to ensure they have had their annual foot and eye check; and ensuring pharmacists receive the latest guidance on how to assist anyone with dementia.

Hancock said: "Pharmacists are integral to community health and I want to move towards the French model, where they offer a wider range of services and play a stronger role in the community. Every day more than a million people use our community pharmacies in England and we want to support our incredible pharmacists to unlock their full potential, helping them offer more health advice and support more patients as part of our Long Term Plan for the NHS.

"Community pharmacies are a vital and trusted part of our NHS, and this five-year deal will ensure more people get support in the most appropriate setting, which in turn helps relieve pressure on  the wider health service."

Keith Ridge, Chief Pharmaceutical Officer, said: "This deal provides the accessible and convenient healthcare that the public really want, while offering a more fulfilling clinical career to pharmacists and pharmacy technicians as a valued part of the NHS team. Joining up primary care organisations ‒ GPs, pharmacists and community services ‒ for our patients, is the foundation of the NHS Long Term Plan and community pharmacies are an important part of these networks, where residents can get a range of health checks and advice as well as picking up their prescription, a service which will now be even safer and more efficient."

Helen Stokes-Lampard, chair of the Royal College of GPs, said: "Introducing a greater variety of roles into the general practice team and making the best possible use of primary care professionals in the community is key to helping relieve the intense resource and workforce pressures facing GPs, and ultimately ensuring our patients get the care they need when they need it.

"Pharmacists are highly-trained healthcare professionals who already advise patients with a host of minor illnesses that don't necessarily need the input of a GP, recommend suitable over-the-counter medication and self-care treatments, and play an important role in medication management on a daily basis. In doing so, they are vital to delivering patient care in the community and alleviating pressures in general practice.

"However, whilst this new scheme is welcome, it is not a silver bullet to addressing the pressures in primary care. Pharmacists – or any other primary care professional – must not be seen as substitutes for GPs, so efforts to recruit more family doctors, retain the existing GP workforce, and make it easier to return to practice after a career break or period working abroad must continue and be redoubled."