A Pharmacy First campaign run from November to December 2024 saw the public’s “intention to use” the service rise from 32% to 37%, pharmacy minister Stephen Kinnock has revealed.
The comment came in response to a parliamentary question on February 9 about the “potential impact” of the Think Pharmacy First campaign on people choosing to visit pharmacies for treatment.
Read more: Scope of Pharmacy First conditions ‘under review’, Kinnock says
Kinnock said data from a campaign run from November to December 2024 showed that people’s “intention to use the pharmacy” if they experienced a Pharmacy First condition increased from 32% to 37%.
The public’s “knowledge that pharmacies can treat Pharmacy First conditions” increased from 71% to 79% following the campaign, he added, while “trust in the advice given by the pharmacy team” rose from 61% to 70%.
“Positive shift”
Kinnock said the “positive shift in people’s attitudes is reflected through” an uptick in the use of the Pharmacy First service.
He noted that in October 2024, the month before the campaign, the service saw 198,794 completed clinical pathways - and that in December the same year, this figure had grown by 30% to 259,323.
A second public advertising campaign for Pharmacy First ran from October 20 last year to January 4, he added, and evaluation of this campaign “is underway”.
Read more: CPE creates website to encourage patients towards Pharmacy First
It comes after Kinnock confirmed last week that NHS England will keep the scope of services offered through Pharmacy First “under review”.
And it follows Community Pharmacy England creating a public-facing website that provides information about Pharmacy First and the services on offer, and helps patients to locate the nearest pharmacy offering the clinical service they need.
