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As part of a new blueprint for primary care, the government today (May 9) announced an investment of £645 million over two years to expand community pharmacy services in England. In a statement, NHS England said: "For the first time ever, patients who need prescription medication will be able to get it directly from a pharmacy, without a GP appointment, for seven common conditions including earache, sore throat, or urinary tract infections." Prime minister Rishi Sunak hopes that the measures will help end the "all-too stressful wait on the end of the phone for patients" by freeing up 15 million slots at doctors' surgeries over the next two years. "We will end the 8am rush and expand the services offered by pharmacies, meaning patients can get their medication quickly and easily," he said Almost half a million women will no longer need to speak to a practice nurse or GP to access oral contraception and will instead be able to pop into their local pharmacy for it, according to the government announcement. Blood checks for people suffering from moderate risk of heart attack or stroke conducted in community pharmacies will more than double from 900,000 last year to 2.5 million next year. NHS chief executive Amanda Pritchard said the "ambitious package" would help transform how care is provided within the health service "with pharmacies playing a central role in managing the nation's health including providing lifesaving checks and medication for common conditions for the first time.

In a unified effort to improve women's healthcare, four leading organisations-the Company Chemists' Association (CCA), the National Pharmacy Association (NPA), the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS), and the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare (FSRH)-are calling for the commissioning of a National Emergency Hormonal Contraception (EHC) service in England. They are proposing that this service be provided free of charge through community pharmacies to women of all ages across the country. They emphasised that such a service would "not only transform access to care for all women, but directly tackle health inequalities and vastly improve health outcomes."