Page 20 - P4304.1-V96_PS-Magazine-April 2024

Pharmacy First – a
(very) brief overview.
By Caroline Pond
I mentioned Pharmacy First in last
month’s article and promised to write
about this again, so with that in mind I
have been picking the brains of those
at the sharp end of this initiative in the
retail pharmacy world. I hope this article
will pass on the salient points of the
scheme to you in dispensing practice.
There is one thing I would observe, from the
get-go, and that is that this scheme could
be a game changer for all of us in general
practice if it does what it says on the box, and
I am excited to see how it changes the shape
of primary care.
Let me start by putting the
scheme into context.
You will all be aware that the DHSC and
NHS England published the ‘Delivery plan for
recovering access to primary care’ on the
9th of May 2023 in response to the fact that
20 PS Magazine | Pharmacy First
primary care is under tremendous pressure.
The Fuller Stocktake report stated ‘there are
real signs of growing discontent with primary
care – both from the public who use it and
from the professionals who work in it. Well, we
all know that is a fact!
The central ambitions of this plan were
and are to tackle the 8am rush and the
consequent inability of patients to get
through to the practice for an appointment
and for patients to know on the day they
manage to contact their practice, just how
their request will be handled. Part of the plan
states that where appropriate patients will be
sign-posted to selfcare or other local services
such as community pharmacy.
The intent to utilise pharmacists as clinicians
to increase access has required a refocussing
of the pharmacists’ role in primary care from
that of a dispenser of prescriptions to that of
a skilled clinician, able to handle a portfolio of
clinical activities.
Buy direct online at PSUK.co.uk