Across Kingston Borough and South West London, 96% of pharmacies have now registered to deliver the Pharmacy First Service.
Going forward we will continue to strengthen the pathways between GPs and community pharmacies so patients can be booked in for a consultation with their local pharmacist for a range of self-limiting conditions and they work together across care pathways. We will also continue to promote pharmacies as the front door to access healthcare through national schemes such as pharmacy first, hypertension case finding and contraception services.
Please see below information on the Pharmacy First programme in South West London as well as a link to our Pharmacy toolkit which includes social media assets and videos.
The new Pharmacy First service, launched 31 January 2024, adds to the existing consultation service and enables community pharmacies to complete episodes of care for 7 common conditions following defined clinical pathways. These conditions are:
- Sinusitis
- Sore throat
- Earache
- Infected insect bite
- Impetigo (a bacterial skin infection)
- Shingles
- Uncomplicated urinary tract infections in women
The major expansion of pharmacy services will give the public more choice in where and how they access care, aiming to free up 10 million GP appointments a year.
The scheme is part of the NHS and government’s primary care access recovery plan, which committed to making accessing healthcare easier for millions of people.
Our Pharmacy Communications & Engagement Toolkit can be found here and contains social media assets and videos with community pharmacists
Best wishes,
Erin
Erin McClelland
Public Affairs Officer
NHS South West London
South West London Integrated Care System
Follow us on Twitter @SWLNHS
