Pharmacists must take on more of the GP workload if the NHS is to save money, all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on primary care and public health chair Nick de Bois has said.

Demands on GPs would rise even further unless patients started visiting pharmacies and caring for themselves, Mr de Bois argued at the APPG's annual reception last week.

Mr de Bois said the past 10 years had seen only a 2 per cent switch of activity from GPs to pharmacists, as he called for a stronger focus on pharmacy in primary care.

"The more we make use of pharmacists' skills, the more that will be to the patient advantage" Nick de Bois, APPG on primary care and public health

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He highlighted that annual GP consultations had increased from four to five and a half per person since 2002. And he argued that the NHS was some way off reaching its goal of boosting self care, outlined 10 years ago in government adviser Derek Wanless' report on the future of the NHS. "The more we make use of pharmacists' skills, the more that will be to the patient advantage," Mr de Bois told C+D in an exclusive interview.

And this could be brought about by a change in funding, Mr de Bois said. "We shouldn't be so obsessed by price, but by quality," he argued. "There needs to be a holistic look at moving away from pounds per pack to focus on integrated care and outcomes."

PSNC also stressed that pharmacies could help overcome the financial challenges facing the NHS. "Community pharmacy minor ailments schemes can free up GP resources, giving doctors the time to focus on more complex cases," said PSNC head of NHS services Alastair Buxton.

Earlier this month, Nuffield Trust warned of a potential £54 billion shortfall in NHS funding in the next 10 years unless the health service made unprecedented productivity gains. The trust's report estimated that demand for GP consultations would rise even further by 2021-22, to an annual average of 7.8 per person.

"Without unprecedented, sustained increases in productivity, funding for health in England will need to increase in real terms after 2014-15 to avoid cuts to the service or a fall in the quality of care patients receive," said Anita Charlesworth, co-author of the report and chief economist at the Nuffield Trust.