Following a review of NHS Pathways – NHSE&I’s clinical decision support system – pharmacists can expect CPCS referrals from NHS 111 for scratches and grazes, teething, and sinusitis, the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) wrote in an update on its website last week (January 14).

The review – which studied the 2021 NHS Pathway algorithms data – found that the addition of these three minor ailments to the CPCS list “could generate 275,000 additional referral opportunities annually”.

NHSE&I has also lowered the acuity requirements for the referral of conditions already managed through CPCS, such as diarrhoea, vomiting, bites and stings, cough, cold and flu, constipation, skin rash, and sticky or watery eyes, depending on a patient’s declared history.

The updates came into effect on January 13, PSNC wrote.

It also reminded contractors to regularly check their systems for any referrals.

Uptake of the CPCS service has so far been slow, with C+D reporting on January 6 that though the number of GP practices involved in CPCS is now slowly increasing, factors including the COVID-19 booster programme and poor IT systems are hampering progress.

Meanwhile, speaking in Parliament last week (January 12) during a debate on access to GP appointments, pharmacy minister Maria Caulfield said that patients can currently be referred to a pharmacy via NHS 111 and their GP.

However, she reiterated that the government is “looking towards a more pharmacy-first model as in Scotland and Wales, where patients can go direct to pharmacists without necessarily going first to the GP, opening up primary care and making it much more accessible”.