Our village chemists is welcoming today’s announcement that pharmacies in England will now be allowed to prescribe drugs for minor illnesses instead of doctors. Similar services are already offered in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Trying to book a non-urgent GP appointment at Ruddington Medical Centre or Church House Surgery nowadays can often mean a wait of weeks, rather than days. Evans Pharmacy is confirming this new ‘Pharmacy First’ service will be available at its Charles Street branch.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said this morning: “You’re going to be able to get treatments for seven common ailments from your pharmacist, rather than have to visit your GP. That is going to free up millions of GP appointments and ensure that you and your family can get the care you need as quickly as possible.”
The pharmacists will be able to treat the following common infections with many of the same medicines as your GP:
- Sinusitis in people over 12 years of age, with symptoms for more than 10 days.
- Urine infections in healthy non-pregnancy women from 16-64 years of age.
- Sore throat in people over 5 years of age.
- Earache in children from 1-17 years of age.
- Infected bites in children over 1 year of age and adults.
- Impetigo in children over 1 year of age and adults.
- Shingles in adults.
To access this service, you can either be referred to the pharmacy by your GP or just call into the branch to book a consultation with the pharmacist.
Emma Anderson, a pharmacist at Evans in Ruddington says: “We are in a great position to implement this service. Most of our pharmacists had already been trained to examine ears and throats. Some of our pharmacists have been prescribing for common infections on a private basis or as part of NHS schemes and pilots for over a decade now.”
Patients needing more specialist or follow-up care will be referred onwards.
Participating pharmacies have been paid £2,000 each by NHS England and will receive £15 per consultation plus £1,000 a month if they see a set minimum number of patients.
Evans Pharmacy is hoping that these new fees will enable it to continue to provide activities that it’s not funded for – including free deliveries for those who are vulnerable in and around Ruddington.
