GP leaders have raised concerns about the expanded Pharmacy First service, warning that pharmacists “don’t necessarily” have the skills required to treat some minor ailments.
The Doctors’ Association UK’s (DAUK) GP committee said in a statement that introducing new conditions to the service “risks undermining the role of GPs in diagnosing patients safely and effectively”.
NHS England announced last week that from autumn, pharmacies will also be able to treat acne, migraines, scabies, ear infections and rhinitis through Pharmacy First, following an agreement to add five new conditions to the service as part of the pharmacy contract for 2026/27.
“GPs should be first option”
DAUK GP co-lead Dr Steve Taylor said pharmacists play an “important role in healthcare” but cautioned against “assuming conditions presenting as ‘minor’ are necessarily straightforward”.
“Although minor illnesses can be treated and diagnosed in pharmacies, we remain concerned at moving more care to pharmacists,” he added.
“Pharmacists are experts in medicines and play a hugely important role in the NHS, but don’t necessarily have the diagnostic skills or expertise.”
Read more: ‘A better Britain’: PM hails five new Pharmacy First conditions
Taylor said GPs “have years of diagnostic training and experience at dealing with the hidden complexities of patients presenting even with ‘simple’ or ‘minor’ illnesses”, and that “GP care should still be the first option for patients”.
He also raised concerns that pharmacists “do not have to demonstrate training for Pharmacy First”, adding that they “should not be placed in positions where they are required or asked to provide care beyond their training, expertise and experience”.
Community Pharmacy England (CPE) guidance states that all pharmacists who deliver Pharmacy First “must complete a Declaration of Competence in Minor Ailments through the Centre of Pharmacy Postgraduate Education”.
Read more: Revealed: GP referrals to Pharmacy First saw slight increase last year
They must also “read all the Patient Group Directions and sign the Pharmacist Self-Declaration Form in each premises from which they provide the service”, CPE said, emphasising that “only appropriately accredited pharmacists will deliver the service”.
Taylor’s statement also called for a “collaborative approach to patient care” and urged the government to focus on “properly funding general practice and community pharmacy to ensure patients can access the right advice and treatment when they need it”.
Read more: Walk-in GP centres ‘undermine’ pharmacies, says RCPharm
It comes after the Royal College of Pharmacy in Scotland expressed “concerns” that the country’s walk-in GP centres risk “undermining” community pharmacies.
And it follows NHS Resolution rejecting a GP surgery’s appeal against a decision to discontinue part of its dispensing services following the approval of a new pharmacy in the area.
