The Pharmacist

The Pharmacist has launched its inaugural roundtable report focusing on the initial six months of Pharmacy First – based on an exclusive discussion with pharmacy and general practice stakeholders.

The Pharmacy First roundtable deliberately sought to create conversation across the two sectors, recognising that engagement from both is needed to make a success of Pharmacy First.

The discussion, held in August this year, reflected on the first six months of the service in England, including successes, challenges and possible future direction.

Pharmacy First launched in England on 31 January 2024, and sees pharmacists funded to provide advice and treatment where necessary for seven major conditions: acute otitis media in children, impetigo, infected insect bites, sinusitis in over 12s, sore throat in over fives, shingles in adults and uncomplicated urinary tract infections (UTIs) in women aged between 16 and 64.

The service also encompasses referrals from GPs and 111 for other minor ailments, previously known as the Community Pharmacist Consultation Service (CPCS), as well as referrals for urgent repeat medicines supply.

Local relationships between general practice and community pharmacies have been identified as ‘key’ to the success of the service, as was evidenced by our discussion around referrals to pharmacies and patients being sent back to their GP.

The Pharmacy First roundtable also highlighted clear issues around funding and workload pressures within both sectors that underpin many of the challenges facing the service.

Our attendees agreed that Pharmacy First is not a solution to GP access pressures nor to the community pharmacy funding crisis.

Throughout the discussion, some clear points emerged on clinical issues and patient experience. Attendees shared examples of initiatives that had worked in their local areas to improve the service.

And suggestions were made as to how the service – including what clinical pathways were included – could be refined and expanded in the future.

Most strongly, there were clear calls to make Pharmacy First accessible to walk-in patients for all minor ailments.

With thanks to our roundtable attendees:

Shilpa Shah, chief executive of Community Pharmacy North East London;
Jonathan Cooper, owner of independent pharmacy group Cooper’s Chemist in the North East of England;
Harry McQuillan, chair at Numark and former chief executive of Community Pharmacy Scotland;
Sukhy Somal, Head of Community Pharmacy Clinical Services at The Black Country Integrated Care System;
Dr Sarah Jacques, part of the Doctors’ Association UK GP committee;
and Dr Selvaseelan Selvarajah, a GP partner in East London and director of Greenlight@GP, a pharmacist-GP employee-owned organisation.

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Over the past 18 months, The Pharmacist has been expanding its offering to pharmacists working within general practice and primary care networks (PCNs), in addition to the community.

Across our website and newsletters, The Pharmacist In Practice features the latest news about the sector, invaluable analysis around pay, job satisfaction and clinical issues, and interviews with trail-blazing pharmacists working in general practice and PCN roles.

Our offering to this audience reflects the growing role of pharmacists within general practice teams across the UK. NHS funding has rapidly expanded the number of pharmacist roles, with over 5,000 pharmacists in PCNs and general practice in England now working closely with GPs, contributing their specialist knowledge of medicines, side effects, cost-effective prescribing, and support for patients with medication and long-term conditions.

With a cross-profession leadership board recently established, pharmacists training to become prescribers and clinical work becoming increasingly important across all settings, our output seeks to highlight the collaborative efforts within primary care pharmacy: across PCNs, general practice, and community pharmacy.

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The Pharmacist delivers the latest daily political, business, and clinical news in the pharmacy sector; with blogs and clinical and professional features on key topics affecting community, PCN, and in practice pharmacists. Our clinical updates span a wide variety of therapy areas relevant to primary care, such as: cancer, dermatology, diabetes, gastroenterology, immunology & vaccination, mental health, respiratory, sexual health, smoking cessation and travel health.