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The Community Pharmacist Consultation Service (CPCS) has been running as a national advanced service since October 2019 to relieve pressure on the National Health Service which aims to help with on the day demand in relation to minor illness and medicines. The NHS Community Pharmacist Consultation Service CPCS (NHS CPCS) aims to meet the objectives of the NHS Long Term Plan to use community pharmacists' skills to advise patients, and to build relationships with GP surgeries, primary care teams and wider NHS providers and to assist with urgent care system repeat prescription requests. Referrals from the GP referral pathway and urgent care systems and urgent treatment centres are digitally routed to community pharmacies so that patients can receive same-day appointments and have their queries resolved. The numbers Based on the estimated annual number of minor ailment GP appointments, the service was expected to save the NHS up to £640 million per year . Three years later, the nation has weathered the Covid 19 pandemic, which had widespread effects and put further strain on already overstretched NHS staff. The pandemic impact has resulted in higher numbers of GP appointments than initially anticipated. Nevertheless, this may offer an opportunity to proactively engage pharmacy teams in patient contact help ease strain across the wider NHS.

Approximately 25 million GP appointments and 5 million A&E visits are utilised each year for self-treatable illnesses. If these individuals chose to self-treat using over-the-counter (OTC) medications, the potential savings for NHS could amount to at least £1.7 billion annually, according to a research commissioned by Proprietary Association of Great Britain. The study, conducted by analysts at Frontier Economics, revealed that embracing self-care could bring an additional economic benefit of £350 million annually, as employees would avoid unnecessary time off from work for medical appointments. Apart from the savings resulting from the increased OTC medicine use, the report emphasises the potential benefits of reclassifying more prescription-only medications (POMs). A mere 5 per cent reduction in NHS prescribing levels and spending could lead to an annual cost-saving of £1.4 billion, encompassing both prescription costs and GP appointments, it said. "This substantial amount could greatly alleviate financial pressures on the NHS and offer essential resources for recruiting and training much-needed healthcare professionals."

A PAGB report has emphasised the need to empower the public to practice self-care and improve access to over-the-counter (OTC) medicines to alleviate pressure on GPs and reduce NHS costs. Launched at the Labour Party Conference today, the PAGB's State of the Nation report explores the current state of self-care and OTC medicines. The report outlines 11 recommendations for the government to consider as part of its strategy to build an NHS fit for the future. It highlights that each year, at least 25 million GP appointments and 5 million A&E visits are used for self-treatable illnesses, which can be effectively managed through self-care. The report suggests that empowering individuals to utilise OTC medicines could save the NHS at least £1.7 billion per year in costs. Furthermore, it says that eliminating these appointments could save the economy an additional £350m per year, as employees would not need to take time off work for unnecessary treatments. PAGB welcomed the government's manifesto commitments to take pressure off GP surgeries by "improving access to services and treatment through new routes" and to expand the role of pharmacists.

Community pharmacies in Cornwall have delivered more than 8000 face-to-face consultations over last 12 months. Walk In Consultation Service (WICS) began 12 months ago when pharmacies in Cornwall started offering face-to-face consultations for a wide range of minor ailments, and NHS treatment as required - the first service of its kind in England. Cornwall & Isles of Scilly Scilly Local Pharmaceutical Committee (LPC) Chief Officer Nick Kaye joined Operations Manager Drew Creek in Parliament recently by invite of Steve Double MP, St Austell and Newquay to meet with Minister for Health Neil O'Brien MP to present the service to them and Senior Civil Servants from DHSC and NHSE with a view to rolling this service out nationally. The data from these consultations show that over 6000 GP appointments were averted as a result of the service being available. After each consultation a record was sent to the patient's GP for information.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has issued Serious Shortage Protocols (SSPs) on three HRT medicines to limit dispensing supply to three months. To ensure women across the UK will be able to more reliably access HRT products SSPs has been issued on the supply of Oestrogel, Ovestin cream and Premique Low Dose. DHSC stated, "Women who have a prescription for more than three months but are only able to access three months' supply will not have to pay an additional prescription charge." "This means women will not incur any additional costs. Imposing a three month limit will mean more women are able to access the medication they want. Any woman who is worried about access to HRT or is unable to access HRT should speak to her GP." Recently, Vaccine Taskforce Director General Madelaine McTernan has been appointed to spearhead a new HRT Supply Taskforce, applying lessons learned from the successful procurement seen during the Covid vaccination programme to identify ways to support the HRT supply chain ensuring it can meet both short and long term demand. The move will save time for patients as well as pharmacists and prescribers who are working tirelessly to tackle the covid backlog.

The Proprietary Association of Great Britain (PAGB) has called on the new Labour government to prioritise six key actions within its first 100 days to harness the benefits of self-care for the public, the NHS, and the wider economy. Aimed to ease the burden on the NHS, the PAGB hopes that the suggest six key actions would help during the incoming winter illness season. According to PAGB, the NHS deals with approximately 25 million GP appointments and 5 million A&E visits each year for self-treatable conditions. By empowering individuals to manage their own health more effectively, the NHS could potentially save up to £1.7 billion annually. In her letter to Wes Streeting, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Michelle Riddalls, CEO of PAGB, urged the government to act promptly.

Community pharmacists in England have launched a new digital platform called My Local Surgery, enabling patients to access Pharmacy First consultations online. This initiative, a part of the NHS Pharmacy First scheme, facilitates free video consultations for six common conditions, connecting patients with community pharmacists for clinical advice and treatment. The platform, spearheaded by a team of pharmacy, tech, and clinical services experts, including experienced community pharmacists Darren Lingaloo and Gulraj Dhillon, tech specialist Nav Ramiah, and Dr. Adam Kirk, a seasoned NHS and digital healthcare professional, seeks to meet the rising demand for clinical services. Darren Lingaloo, co-founder and chief pharmacist at My Local Surgery, said: "The evolving role of pharmacists is long overdue and has the potential to save millions of GP appointments every year.

Pharmacies are valuable healthcare assets, meeting increasing public demand. However, a substantial portion of their capacity is consumed by unfunded work. According to Community Pharmacy England's (CPE) 2024 Pharmacy Advice Audit, community pharmacies conduct over 1.3 million unfunded consultations each week, equating to 69 million annually. The average pharmacy completes around 22 of these consultations daily, each taking approximately 5.6 minutes of staff time -adding up to over two hours daily. This represents nearly 50 per cent more consultations than in 2020 and a 78 per cent increase in time spent on unfunded healthcare advice since the 2020 audit. The audit, which surveyed over a third (3,916) of community pharmacies in England earlier this year, also highlights that pharmacies handle nearly 150,000 informal referrals from GPs and NHS 111 each week. All these referrals could have been routed through the Pharmacy First service, which would have potentially secured over £115 million in funding for the sector, the CPE noted.