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Insect bites and stings typically increase in the summer in England. This year, however, there's been an earlier-than-usual spike in the number of people seeking NHS advice on the condition. According to the NHS England, visits to its insect bites and stings web page have nearly tripled in the last three weeks compared to the same period last year, peaking at an average of one visit every 22 seconds in the past week. Over the span of 21 days, a total of 68,986 visited the page, marking a significant 162 per cent increase compared to the 26,368 visits recorded in the first three weeks of May 2023. Although insect bites or stings are usually not serious and people tend to get better after a few days, the health service has cautioned that they can lead to infection or severe allergic reactions. People are encouraged to refer to the NHS website for advice or visit their local pharmacy to get advice and treatment for common health conditions, including infected insect bites.

More than 1000 pharmacies in England, including Boots stores, are now delivering the newly launched NHS Pharmacy First Service. Launched on Wednesday (31 January), the new service enables pharmacists to provide advice and treatment, if appropriate, for seven common conditions, which include sinusitis, sore throat, earache, infected insect bite, impetigo, shingles, or an uncomplicated urinary tract infection in women. Instead of going to a GP surgery, patients can go to their community pharmacists to get treatment for these common conditions, without the need for an appointment. Patients who may need additional support will be referred to a GP or another healthcare provider by the pharmacist. Seb James, managing director of Boots UK and ROI, has described their launch of Pharmacy First service as "one of the most significant changes in how we can serve our customers and patients in our 175-year history."

The much-awaited Pharmacy First service has been launched in England, enabling patients to get treatment for seven common conditions from their community pharmacists without needing to see a GP. According to NHS England, a total of 10,265 community pharmacies, which is equivalent to more than nine in ten community pharmacies in the country, will be offering the ground-breaking initiative. The new scheme allows highly trained pharmacists to give advice and prescription-only medicines for minor ailments including sinusitis, sore throat, earache, infected insect bite, impetigo, shingles, and uncomplicated urinary tract infections in women (under the age of 65). With this major expansion of pharmacy services, the NHS is aiming to free up 10 million GP appointments a year while giving the public more choice in where and how they access care.

Researchers from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) have been tasked to evaluate the impact, safety and effectiveness of the Pharmacy First service, which was launched across England in January 2024. They have been awarded £2.4million by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) to generate evidence on the new service that allows pharmacies to provide advice and treatment for seven common conditions without the need for a GP appointment. After consultation, if necessary, a community pharmacist can supply some prescription-only medicines to treat earache, sore throat, sinusitis, impetigo, shingles, infected insect bites or uncomplicated urinary tract infections in women. The LSHTM researcher team will be working together with experts at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and the Universities of Oxford, Manchester and Nottingham on the project. Dr Rebecca Glover, assistant professor in Antimicrobial Resistance at LSHTM, who will lead the three-year project, said they will evaluate "Pharmacy First's impact on GPs and the wider NHS, pharmacy services and patients."