Key Summary
- NHS Pharmacy First is seeing growing uptake, with over 260,000 consultations in the East Midlands last year alone.
- Patients can walk into pharmacies for common conditions like sore throats, UTIs and insect bites — no GP appointment needed.
- Leaders including National Pharmacy Association say the scheme brings care closer to home and eases pressure on GPs and hospitals.
Launched two years ago, Pharmacy First is witnessing a steady rise in various parts of England with more patients accessing pharmacies for certain common conditions.
In the East Midlands region, more than 260,000 patients approached pharmacies for consultations under the scheme last year, a 61 percent increase from the preceding year, BBC reports.
The Pharmacy First Scheme allows pharmacists to treat minor health concerns such as earache, impetigo, infected insect bites, shingles, sinusitis, sore throat, and uncomplicated urinary tract infections.
The patients can avail the scheme by walking into a pharmacy, even without a GP registration.
They can also be referred by NHS 111, urgent treatment centres, emergency departments, and GPs.
As per NHS Midlands, sore throats, urinary tract infections and insect bites were the most common issues under the scheme.
Jackie Buxton, pharmacy lead for NHS in the Midlands, opined that the Pharmacy First Scheme helped thousands of people, especially during weekends.
National Pharmacy Association chief executive Henry Gregg said that it brought care closer to homes by avoiding long waits to see the GP.
Healthcare experts state that the Pharmacy First Scheme show the potential role community pharmacies can play in relieving the burden on the healthcare system.
