BUS INE S S & EDUCATION COUNT Y NEWS MAY 2 0 2 4
LOCAL MP ENCOURAGES RESIDENTS TO VISIT A PHARMACY FIRST
Selly Oak MP, Steve McCabe, recently visited the Evergreen Pharmacy in Cotteridge to learn more about a new service to support people with seven common conditions, known as 'Pharmacy First'. During the visit, he learnt that from Jan 21 people across Birmingham have been able to get advice and medicines from their local pharmacy to treat these common conditions, without needing to see a GP.
Pharmacists and their teams have been working extremely hard for their patients in recent years, despite the enormous pressures they face. Most pharmacy owners are supportive of this new service as a means of injecting some desperately needed funding. Not only is the service available locally at Evergreen, many other pharmacies in the region have also signed up to provide ‘Pharmacy First’ too. They can now support people of certain ages seeking help for sore throats, sinusitis, earache, infected insect bites, impetigo, shingles, and urinary tract infections in women. It is hoped that the service will be expanded to include more conditions in the future, such as chest infections.
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By thinking ‘Pharmacy First’, people should find it easier and quicker to get the help they need and bypass the 8am rush to book a GP appointment. According to a 2023 YouGov Poll, 75% of people agree that they would like to see community pharmacies offering more healthcare services such as treating urinary tract infections or sore throats. Four in five people in England can reach a community pharmacy within a 20-minute walk and there are twice as many pharmacies in the most deprived communities, making access to care quicker and more convenient. The new service is part of a wider expansion of healthcare services that will empower pharmacists to use more of their skills and give people more choice. However, to deliver further services through community pharmacies, these must be commissioned in the con- text of fair, sustainable funding.
McCabe said: “I am supportive of this new service as a way to ensure that patients can more easily access the healthcare that they need. Pharmacists are medicines experts and patients and members of the public should feel assured that the healthcare advice they receive from pharmacists and their teams will be second to none. However, whilst 'Pharmacy First' is a great initiative it doesn't compensate for the declining number of pharmacies across England under this Conservative government. The unsustainable financial situation, because of a decline in core NHS funding by 30%, inflationary pressures, and inability to pass on rising costs has resulted in intolerable pressures for community pharmacies and an increase in closures. Nationally, there have been 1046 pharmacy closures since October 2016 due to funding cuts, staff shortages, medicine supply issues, and high operating
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costs. Government funding needs to be drastically increased; the funding package announced in 2019 for the five-year deal for community pharmacies is completely insufficient. There needs to be an urgent uplift in funding to help pharmacies to cope with soaring costs being driven by inflation and the workforce crisis.”
Pharmacy owners have been calling for the 'Pharmacy First' service for many years. In July 2023, 86% said they wanted to provide the service. In 2022, it was estimated that 65 million informal healthcare consultations were taking place in England’s community pharmacies every year, with no specific funding attached to them. This service goes someway to injecting some much-needed funding into the community pharmacy sector, particularly after a real-terms cut of 30% since 2015.
There are approximately 10,800 community pharmacies in England, with 22 pharmacies operating in the Birmingham Selly Oak constituency, serving a population of around 110,168. In a typical month (data from October 2022) pharmacies in Birmingham Selly Oak, on average, dispense 5505 prescriptions each. 'Pharmacy First' aims to help free up 10 million GP appointments a year by next winter. This will give GPs time and space to see patients with more complex conditions.
Find the new service at a pharmacy near you using the NHS website.
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