NHS England is creating a template leaflet for GP surgeries across Devon and Cornwall informing patients where else to seek healthcare advice, including community pharmacies.

It is using a leaflet from Newton Abbot's Kingkerswell and Ipplepen Medical Practice, which earlier this month the national commissioning body said it was "very concerned about", as the basis for the template, C+D has learned.

Highlighting local pharmacies' minor ailments service, Kingkerswell and Ipplepen's original leaflet directed patients to a specific pharmacy; the NHS England-approved version it has now released advises patients to visit "your local pharmacy".

This week an NHS England spokesperson described the leaflet as a "great idea". “We have run with that to make sure people are aware what services are available,” the NHS England spokesperson told C+D.

Kingkerswell and Ipplepen practice manager Robert Hooper said: “NHS England now recognises that the leaflet stemmed from consultation with patients, who told us they found it confusing knowing who to go to and about what."

“The leaflet seeks to communicate in a concise way what NHS services are provided locally," he added.
 
Mark Stone, project pharmacist at Devon LPC, told C+D he was happy that the leaflet was being adapted and distributed across Devon and Cornwall. “There is a key place for pharmacy and there are services in place that patients need to be made aware of,” he added. 

Would you like to see a similar template produced in your local area?

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