Pharmacies in Essex could see more demand under new plan
Patients can get treatments at pharmacists without seeing a GP from today
A pharmacy owner in the East of England has said he's expecting more demand ahead under new plans to ease patient waiting times.
From today, patients in England can be assessed and treated by pharmacists for seven common conditions: sore throat, sinusitis, earache, sinusitis, infected insect bites, impetigo, shingles and uncomplicated urinary tract infections in women under 65 without needing to see a GP or pick up a prescription.
NHS England said more than nine in 10 community pharmacies in England - 10,265 in total - will be offering the checks under the Pharmacy First scheme.
The move is intended to give people more places to get the care they need.
Anil Sharma owns several pharmacies in the East:
"A lot of our patients are saying to us 'I can't wait for this (scheme) to go live because we have to wait eight days to get a GP appointment and now if it's serious enough, we know we can come in, you'll look at us and give us the required treatment'," he said.
"That is going to be our fundamental challenge; how do we fit in this workload with an ever-decreasing workforce and a reduction in funding?
"It's groundbreaking that we've been allowed to do this; what I would warn patients is because of the workforce capacity issues currently, they may not be able to stroll into their pharmacy, see a pharmacist and get antibiotics straight away."
Scheme to free up '10 million GP appointments a year'
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the Pharmacy First scheme - backed by £645 million - will help people get quicker treatment closer to them.
"Community pharmacies already do a tremendous job at treating minor conditions and we're determined to go further and unlock their full potential to deliver routine care," he said.
"This is about ensuring people get the treatment they need closer to home, while crucially helping deliver on our plan to cut waiting lists, by freeing up 10 million GP appointments a year, so people get the care they need more quickly."
Anil has told us measures are being worked on at his pharmacies to help cope with an expected rise in demand.
"In some of our pharmacies, we're going to run an appointment service so we might say 'can you come back at this time?' as that will be when the pharmacist will be free to see you." he said.
"We'll probably keep two to three hours of appointments free a day where we can see patients.
"I expect it might be a slow burner to start off with, but I expect in three or four months to be really busy; we're in the process of updating our website so people can book online or updating our patient app so people can go there and book for an appointment."