Customers are now able to get prescription medicine and oral contraception directly from the pharmacy amid efforts to ease the workload of GPs. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced plans that will see members of the public get direct treatment for seven common illnesses.
Sunak hopes the new plans will help put an end to the “all-too stressful wait" for appointments which will in turn free up an estimated 15 million slots at surgeries in the next two years. It was recently announced that people with illnesses such as a sore throat, urinary tract infections, shingles and others will be able to avoid queues altogether under new plans.
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The Echo reports how 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.
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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