Cutting out GP visits to get treatment at pharmacies
The scheme for specially trained pharmacists to prescribe NHS medicines directly to treat patients without them needing to see their GP is to be extended at two local chemists for another year.
The Community Pharmacy Independent Prescribing Programme covers patients accessing NHS treatment for same-day illnesses, including chest infections; ear infections for adults and children aged one year and over: oral thrush: skin infections and other conditions.
It also allows Independent Prescribing Pharmacists to provide appropriate alternative medications when a prescribed medicine is unavailable due to stock shortages.
The programme is available at five chemists in Lincolnshire including East Midlands Pharmacy at 15 Sincil Street, Lincoln, LN5 7ET and Medicines Plus Pharmacy, 41 High Street, Navenby, LN5 0DZ.
The scheme started as a national pilot funded by NHS England, which ended on December 31, but due to its success - and to help alleviate winter pressures - NHS Lincolnshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) helped fund an extension up to March 31. And now the pilot has been extended again, until March 31, 2027, as part of a regional scheme at pharmacies across Lincolnshire, Derbyshire, Northamptonshire and Nottinghamshire.
The new funding covers 30 NHS consultations per month at each pharmacy and will offer more than 1,000 appointments for patients in Lincolnshire who previously would have needed to see a GP.
Dr Dave Briggs, Executive Director of Outcomes, for the regional ICBs, said: “Community Pharmacy is playing an increasingly important role as a front door to the NHS, utilising the skills of our brilliant pharmacists to deliver patient-centred care much more effectively.
“The ability to prescribe for additional conditions, in addition to the hugely successful Pharmacy First service available at nearly all our community pharmacies, makes treatment more accessible to the public and allows GPs more time to focus on patients with more serious, persistent illnesses.
“Providing greater access to primary care in convenient high street locations is central to the vision of the NHS 10-year plan’s aim to move care from hospital to community.”
To date, participating Lincolnshire pharmacies provided more than 2,800 Independent Prescriber consultations to patients who otherwise would have visited their GP or urgent care facilities. Continuous positive feedback from reviews has highlighted how important this service is to local communities.