Pharmacists will now be able to provide prescription medicines and oral contraception to ease the pressure on GPs.
New plans announced by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak mean patients will be able to get treatment directly at pharmacies for seven common conditions. The Prime Minister hopes the measures will help end the “all-too stressful wait” for appointments by freeing up 15 million slots at doctors’ surgeries over the next two years.
Pharmacists themselves would be able to write the prescriptions under the reform that ministers hope will be introduced this winter after a consultation with the industry. The number of people able to access blood pressure checks in pharmacies would be more than doubled to 2.5 million a year under the plans and self-referrals will also be increased for access to services such as physiotherapy, hearing tests and podiatry without the requirement to see a GP first.
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Mr Sunak said: “I am getting on with delivering on my five priorities and transforming primary care is the next part of this Government’s promise to cut NHS waiting lists. I know how frustrating it is to be stuck on hold to your GP practice when you or a family member desperately need an appointment for a common illness.
“We will end the 8am rush and expand the services offered by pharmacies, meaning patients can get their medication quickly and easily.”
Conditions pharmacists will be able to treat include:
Earache
Sore throat
Urinary tract infections
Sinusitis
Infected insect bite
Impetigo
Shingles
It is hoped that almost half-a-million women would no longer need to speak to a nurse or GP to get oral contraception.
The other medications that GPs would be able to hand out would treat conditions including sinusitis, infected insect bite, impetigo and shingles.
NHS chief executive Amanda Pritchard said the “ambitious package” will help transform how care is provided within the health service. She added: “This blueprint will help us to free up millions of appointments for those who need them most, as well as supporting staff so that they can do less admin and spend more time with patients.”
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