Pharmacy First should be widened to utilise the skills of the new independent prescribers (IPs), the Company Chemists Association (CCA) has said.
In a report published today, the body called for the NHS to expand the service to “include prescribing for those with the appropriate skills and qualifications”.
It highlighted that IPs will have “new skills allowing them to treat more patients” and “resolve more complex needs”.
Read more: Awareness ‘biggest barrier’ to wider Pharmacy First use
The CCA said Pharmacy First currently relies on Patient Group Directions (PGDs), which “set out very defined patient criteria and pathways” that require patients to have “specific personal particulars” and “symptoms to receive treatment”.
When symptoms vary from the specified criteria, onward referral to a GP is often required, but the CCA said IPs will be “able to prescribe around any PGD restrictions and so will have the skills and tools to better meet patient needs”.
They then have the ability to “assess a much broader scope of conditions with greater depth of assessment” with IP training including “enhanced diagnostic skills and medical history taking”.
Additional clinical capacity
The body said the introduction of these new prescribers “offers the government and NHS significant additional clinical capacity in primary care”.
This potential “significant volume of new clinical workload commissioned by the NHS”, would enable pharmacy businesses “to diversify their team structures and increase their capacity”.
“Growing need”
The CCA suggested Pharmacy First could also treat conditions including headaches, back pain, eye infections and skin conditions.
But it also stressed that the new prescribing pathways would “require additional funding and the adoption of new digital enablers”.
Read more: Include migraines in Pharmacy First service, CCA urges
And it added that “a lack of opportunities to prescribe will make community pharmacy a less attractive sector for pharmacy professionals”.
This in turn could “restrict public access to NHS care at a time of growing need”, which “if not met by community pharmacy … will only place additional pressure on the wider health system”, the body said.
Read more: Revealed: Who delivered the most Pharmacy First consultations?
It follows a report published last week by the CCA, also funded by Pfizer, that called for the NHS to include headaches under the scope of Pharmacy First.
The body estimated that “half” of the GP consultations carried out for headaches every year “could be managed within community pharmacy”.
Read more: NHS spent £2m on latest Pharmacy First campaign, govt reveals
And the Pharmacists’ Defence Association (PDA) warned in April that the current workload for pharmacies is “not sustainable” and “total system capacity has been exceeded”.
This is due to “huge increases in prescription volume” and a “wider range of clinical services and walk-in consultations being offered” following the introduction of Pharmacy First in 2024, it said.
