NHS England will consider commissioning a national minor ailments service from pharmacists as part of its review of urgent and emergency care, health minister Norman Lamb has confirmed.

In the first indication that the goverment is considering a pharmacy-led minor ailments service, Mr Lamb told the House of Commons last week (March 10) that the NHS had already identified how pharmacy could relieve pressure on emergency services in winter and would decide whether a "common ailments scheme" was needed as part of NHS England's ongoing review of urgent care.

CCGs are already able to commission "common ailments services" to meet the health needs of their local populations, but it was the responsibility of NHS England to commission services nationally, Mr Lamb said in response to a question from Conservative MP and vice-chair of the all-party pharmacy group (APPG) Oliver Colevile.

"NHS England is conducting a review of urgent and emergency care led by Sir Bruce Keogh and the contribution of a common ailments service will be considered as part of this," said health minister Norman Lamb	More on the minor ailments scheme Sector slams possible two-year delay to minor ailments scheme NHS urges patients to visit pharmacy for minor ailments PSNC: at least two years for national minor ailments scheme
	"It is for NHS England to decide if a common ailments scheme should be included. NHS England is conducting a review of urgent and emergency care led by Sir Bruce Keogh [and] the contribution of a common ailments service will be considered as part of this review," he said.

The NHS document Community pharmacy - helping with winter pressures, published in December last year, had identified how pharmacies contributed to healthcare provision during the winter season, he added.

A national minor ailments scheme could create at least £64 million in savings for NHS, Monitor said in October. But PSNC later said it was "very unlikely" that NHS England would commission a national scheme for at least another two years.

NHS England did not confirm whether it was considering a national minor ailments service but told C+D on Friday that the outcomes of the urgent and emergency care review would be "considered" alongside responses from the Call to Action consultation. "We know that common ailments services may be useful in managing demand on the emergency care system – especially in winter," a spokesperson said. 

Last year, NHS England announced plans for a comprehensive review of the urgent and emergency care system. The first phase of the review found that a significant percentage of patients spent longer than four hours in A&E and prompted the commissioning body to launch a campaign in January to encourage patients with minor ailments to visit their pharmacy.