Pharmacy First consultations amongst Company Chemists’ Association members saw a 10% uplift in the week leading up to Christmas, the CCA finds. This provides further evidence that Pharmacy First is providing vital NHS access for patients, often at times when they are unable to access other parts of the NHS.
The CCA estimate that the entire sector would have delivered 65,000 consultations in the week leading up to Christmas. It is common to see spikes of Pharmacy First consultations around bank holidays and when other providers may not be readily accessible. It is worth noting, for example, that there was a 15% spike in activity during the CrowdStrike IT outage in July 2024.
At a Rowland’s Pharmacy in Warsop, Mansfield, pharmacist Taseta saw an increase in the number patients presenting with sore throats, especially amongst school children and staff. She noted they also had more UTI consultations, but the usual numbers of patients with earaches.
Taseta said: “We had a surge of patients over and before Christmas. Lots of people do not want to be ill over Christmas so [they] wanted easy and quick access to care, which we could do in the Pharmacy.”
She also noted there was an increase in patients engaging with the Pharmacy Contraception Service, which could be due to time constraints at the local surgery.
Taseta added: “The Pharmacy First service is very well received locally especially during holiday periods when GP appointments can be hard to get, [and] the other alternative is walk-in centres, which for our location is a good few miles away. As such the pharmacy is very convenient.”
CCA Chief Executive Malcolm Harrison said: “It is great to see the real-time impact Pharmacy First has within a community, especially when other parts of the NHS may not be readily accessible. The service has delivered in a short space of time and there’s potential to do so much more. The next step is expanding Pharmacy First to deliver even greater patient access into primary care.
The expansion of Pharmacy First is integral to realising the Government’s shifts of shifting care out of hospital and into community and focusing on preventing sickness rather than treating it. Community pharmacies offer an accessible and convenient way to do this.”
Photo Caption: Taseta (far right in blue) at the recent visit by Steve Yemm MP, Member of Parliament for Mansfield.