Community pharmacy was back in the headlines this week. But this time the publicity was not linked to the widespread threat of funding cut-induced closures, but the possibility of a new service to offer patients.

I’m talking about NHS England’s announcement that it has backed a Boots sore throat pilot – where community pharmacists conducted on-the-spot swab tests to determine whether patients actually needed antibiotic treatment – to fast-track it into the health service.

The findings from the, admittedly small-scale, pilot do suggest it has some benefits. However, there are still plenty of questions around how the service would work on larger scale: how much it will cost, and if patients will be expected to pay, for example.

With so much still undecided, it’s hardly surprising the service already has its share of sceptics. GP Margaret McCartney wrote in the Guardian this week that the fee charged to patients who took part in the pilot – £7.50 for the swab test and an additional £10 for antibiotics dispensed – flies in the face of the NHS’s “free at the point of delivery” ethos.

Meanwhile, the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee has pointed out that the service’s success will hang on whether local commissioners stump up the cash to fund it.

Even if it receives universal support from clinical commissioning groups, it will still not be a replacement for a nationally commissioned minor ailments scheme – fast becoming the holy grail of pharmacy services in England. But it is nevertheless a timely expression of faith by NHS England in the clinical expertise of pharmacists.

It comes at a time when pharmacies across England could do with a pick-me-up. While their Welsh and Scottish counterparts have both received shows of support from their national governments this autumn, in England all eyes are looking to December 1, when the first wave of funding cuts will come into force.

By making it onto the front page of national newspapers, the sore throat scheme has already managed to promote the sector’s abilities. If nothing else, it is nice to see some recognition in the mainstream media that pharmacy – and not, for once, general practice – can play a frontline role in the war against antibiotic resistance.

But if NHS England really wants to make the most of pharmacists’ expertise, it needs to put its money where its mouth is and fund the service itself.