Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has plans to expand the common conditions service beyond the initial seven conditions outlined in the Government’s Delivery Plan for Recovering Access to Primary Care.
Answered on
20 November 2023
Negotiations with Community Pharmacy England (CPE) have concluded, and pharmacy contractors have been informed by a joint letter from the Department, NHS England and CPE about the detail of Pharmacy First including the funding of the service. That letter has been published on gov.uk. Pharmacy First will launch on 31 January 2024, subject to the IT underpinning the service being complete. The expansion of the Pharmacy Contraception Service will launch on 1 December together with a relaunch of the existing Blood Pressure Check Service.
Under Pharmacy First, community pharmacists will be able to supply prescription-only medicines, including antibiotics and antivirals where clinically appropriate, to treat seven common health conditions (sinusitis, sore throat, earache, infected insect bite, impetigo, shingles, and uncomplicated urinary tract infections in women) without the need to visit a GP. The supply of prescription-only medicines will be under Patient Group Directions which are strict protocols for when a medicine can be supplied without a prescription. At present, there are no plans to expand the seven conditions.
Pharmacy First can be delivered remotely including by distance selling pharmacies but they will not be able to deliver the earache pathway because this requires someone to look in patient’s ear which cannot be done remotely.
Uptake and delivery of Pharmacy First will be closely monitored including the impact on antimicrobial resistance.