Pharmacy First should be expanded to include migraines, the Company Chemists Association (CCA) has said.
In a Pfizer-funded report published today, the CCA called for a “new clinical pathway in the Pharmacy First service for acute headaches”.
It highlighted that community pharmacy “already offers advice and over-the-counter (OTC) pain relief for patients suffering with headaches and migraine”.
Read more: Awareness ‘biggest barrier’ to wider Pharmacy First use
Commissioning care for acute headaches under Pharmacy First would “increase the options available to pharmacy teams to support these patients”, it added, and “reduce the demand on other parts of the NHS”.
The body noted that pharmacists already have “longstanding experience supporting” headache patients “with the treatment options currently available to them”.
But it said migraines “can often require prescription-only medicines, which requires a consultation with a GP” - meaning that options for treating migraines at the pharmacy “are limited”.
“Greatly improved access”
The CCA’s report pointed out that many community pharmacies are “often open extended hours” which “offers greatly improved access to treatment for these common conditions”.
It added that “there are more community pharmacies in deprived areas”, which means that “access is greater in areas where need is higher”.
“Pharmacy First is directly helping to tackle health inequalities,” it said.
Read more: Expand Pharmacy First conditions, says health watchdog
The CCA estimated that of the 2.5 million GP appointments for headaches every year, “half of these could be managed within community pharmacy”.
But it stressed that while a new clinical pathway for migraines can be commissioned as part of the existing Pharmacy First service, the pharmacy sector “is already chronically underfunded, and new activity will need new funding”.
“Community pharmacy has both the ability and desire to be at the forefront of the shift of care into communities, but can only do so when service provision is funded,” it said.
Read more: Asda launches campaign to raise Pharmacy First awareness
It comes after a survey by Healthwatch Kirklees and Calderdale last month revealed that 44% of respondents had never heard of Pharmacy First.
And it follows a Pharmacists’ Defence Association report finding that pharmacy’s workforce capacity must increase to support the growing prescription volume and number of services on offer since the introduction of Pharmacy First.
