Pharmacy First expansion could free up 40m GP appointments a year, CCA report finds

In a report to mark the first anniversary of the service, the Company Chemists’ Association (CCA) outlines how Pharmacy First could be expanded to free up 40 million general practice appointments every year.

In just the first nine months, community pharmacies have provided nearly 1.5 million Pharmacy First consultations for the seven conditions (earaches, urinary tract infections, sore throats, sinusitis, infected insect bites, impetigo, and shingles).

The CCA estimate that the service will provide 2.5 million consultations by its current end date (April 2025). Moreover, in its current guise, the service has the potential to free up over 9 million GP appointments every year.

However, by expanding the criteria and treatments available for the existing seven conditions, and by adding new conditions, over four times as many GP appointments — 40 million — could be freed up annually. This is around a tenth of all GP appointments.

 

Read the CCA’s report on the Future of Pharmacy First here

 

The CCA’s latest report provides an overview of the service to date – key findings are as follows:

  • Pharmacy First provision continues to vary regionally with a distinct divide between the north and south. Pharmacies in The Black Country provided over two and a half times more consultations than North Central London when adjusted for population size.
  • Almost a third (30%) of all consultations have been for urinary tract infections (UTIs) each week — peaking at almost 40% in September. This is followed by sore throat (28% of consultations), infected insect bites (13%), ear infection (12%), sinusitis (9%), impetigo (5%), and shingles (3%).
  • Over a quarter (27%) of Pharmacy First consultations have been provided in the 20% most deprived communities. This further proves that pharmacy services, when commissioned nationally, can directly address health inequalities.
  • Demand for consultations on Sundays is double the average of that during the week.
  • Data shows that patient demand is consistent throughout the month. Whilst this is to be expected, the weekly data shows spikes in activity around bank holidays such as Easter, and a 15% spike in activity during the CrowdStrike IT outage (July 2024).

Pharmacy First offers a new route to access urgent care. It provides not only better value for the NHS but also releases capacity within these urgent care services for more acute or complex conditions. This is in line with the Government’s vision to shift greater care into the community, which is expected to feature prominently in the forthcoming NHS 10-year plan.

Patient awareness is low but growing. It is important that patients know they can walk-in to their community pharmacy and receive advice and treatment for the seven common conditions.

With action and ambitious commissioning pharmacies could free up 40 million GP appointments every year. The report urges policymakers to:

  1. Expand the eligibility criteria of the current seven conditions to allow more patients to be treated.
  2. Move from a Patient Group Direction-led service to an Independent Prescribing-led service to expand pharmacists’ ability to treat more patients with these conditions and providing a launchpad for further expansion.
  3. Increase the range of conditions covered in the service including eye infections, migraines, and chest infections, but also conditions which link with other parts of primary care, such as lower back pain and dental pain.

Malcolm Harrison, Chief Executive of the CCA said: “In a short space of time, the community pharmacy sector has established a new access route into NHS primary care. Pharmacy First is allowing patients to be seen in a timely manner and freeing up vital GP capacity, so that they can focus on more acute and complex care. There is, however, still significant room for growth.

An expanded service could free up 40m GP appointments – over four times as many as we estimate the current service will free up – and around a tenth of all GP appointments.

It’s clear that Pharmacy First is working as intended but the NHS must now allow us to now move through the gears and expand the service to deliver greater patient access into primary care.”

Hetal Naik, Pfizer Ltd UK Primary Care Lead said: “Pfizer Ltd welcomes the thought-leadership provided in this CCA report and its forward-thinking recommendations, marking one year since the inception of the Pharmacy First service in England. Pharmacy First is leveraging the reach of community pharmacies to provide essential services to everyone, precisely when and where they are needed, reducing pressure on the wider NHS system. Pfizer stands firmly behind any measures that promote timely, equal access to healthcare services for any individual. CCA has highlighted some critical issues through this insightful report.”

For further inquiries or interview opportunities, please contact Zoë Berg at [email protected] or 07471992854.

Notes to editors

Financial support for this report has been provided to the CCA as a grant by Pfizer Ltd.

  • The NHS Pharmacy First service launched on 31st January 2024. The service allows pharmacists to provide advice and where clinically appropriate, prescription-only medicines for seven common conditions: acute otitis media (earache), impetigo, infected insect bites, shingles, sinusitis, sore throat, and uncomplicated urinary tract infections in women.
  • The service is currently funded until April 2025.
  • For each of the seven conditions, a clinical pathway must be followed. A clinical pathways consultation can only be accessed when a ‘gateway point’ in one of the clinical pathways is crossed. Once a ‘gateway point’ is reached, the patient is eligible for NHS-funded care.
  • In many cases a Prescription-Only Medicine (POM) can be supplied by the pharmacists through a legal mechanism called a Patient Group Direction. This sets out clear criteria for which patients and under what conditions they can be provided with a prescription medicine, previously only available from a GP.
  • NHS England estimate General Practice provided 366,100,000 appointments from December 2023 to November 2024. NHS Digital data available publicly “Appointments in General Practice, November 2024. Official statistics in development. Published 19 Dec 2024” can be found here.

About the CCA

Established in 1898, the Company Chemists Association is the trade body for multiple pharmacies across England, Scotland, and Wales. We represent our members interests and provide them with a forum to bring together their scale, skills, experience, and resources for the benefit of patients, the NHS and the community pharmacy network.

About Pfizer

Pfizer Ltd has been present in the UK for over 70 years, working with the NHS and other healthcare organisations to improve care delivery and patient outcomes. We support the government’s aim to build a sustainable NHS through prevention, technology, and community care. Pfizer emphasises the importance of investment in health for a prosperous society and collaborates with the government, NHS, and pharmaceutical industry to ensure patient access to new medicines and support the NHS in meeting growing demands. Our company also supports charities, patient organisations, and educational programmes, and has around 2,000 colleagues in five UK locations, including key sites in Sandwich and Cambridge.

 Methodology

The analysis is based on data collected from 3,000+ pharmacies since the launch of the Pharmacy First service (31st January 2024) until 30th November 2024. NHSE data is from 31st Jan to 31st August.

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