Pharmacists can treat patients with minor illnesses for half the price NHS doctors pay for the same work, according to a report by MPs.
The cross-party group is calling on the government to use “the power” of pharmacies to deal with Covid backlogs and rising demand.
This could free up millions of GP appointments for people with more serious illnesses and free up money for other frontline services, it adds.
But the cross-party parliamentary group on pharmacy is warning ministers must take “urgent action” to ease the funding pressure on local pharmacies at risk of closure. MEPs and colleagues have published their report on the future of pharmacy following a wide-ranging inquiry launched more than a year ago.
Pharmacists can treat patients with minor illnesses at half the price NHS doctors pay for the same work
It cites evidence from the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee which shows the cost of 40 million small GP appointments a year is £1.2bn.
However, sending it to pharmacies as part of a Community Pharmacy Consultation Service would cost just £560m, a saving of £640m a year that could be reinvested elsewhere. This corresponds to a cost saving of 53 percent for the health care service.
The report came as figures showed more than 5 million people waited more than two weeks for a doctor’s appointment in November and fewer than seven in 10 consultations were face-to-face this month. There are 11,200 community pharmacies across England and 89 per cent of the population can walk to the nearest shop within 20 minutes.
But the report warns that thousands will have to close because of the impact of high inflation and reduced funding.
Around 670 pharmacies have closed since 2015 and the value of the NHS England pharmacy contract has fallen by a quarter in real terms since 2015. The Daily Mail’s Good Health supplement is running a “Save Our Local Pharmacies” campaign calling on the government for the valuable services they provide.
Labor MP Taiwo Owatemi, a qualified pharmacist and leader of the cross-party group, said: “Pharmacists turned up when the country needed them most.”
Pharmacies already carry out more than 65 million informal consultations per year. However, unlike other services, none of these consultancies have specific funding.
According to the report, local pharmacies could put further pressure on the NHS by allowing them to supply prescription drugs and introducing a ‘walk-in’ option, allowing a wider range of conditions to be treated by the service . .
Labor MP Taiwo Owatemi, a licensed pharmacist and leader of the cross-party group, said: “Pharmacists stepped in when the country needed them most, relieving pressure from other parts of the health system during the unprecedented challenges of the pandemic.
“They have shown how much more they can do if they get the right political support and funding.”
Dr. Leyla Hannbeck, Managing Director of the Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies, emphasized that general practitioner practices like pharmacies are run like private companies.
She said: “The community pharmacy network is a very efficient part of the NHS as our business model is flexible and there are many cost-effective solutions our network can offer if NHS bosses look at this.
“The flexibility and accessibility was really shown during the pandemic as we kept our doors open and saw patients face to face.
“Our accessibility to homes and communities makes us a logical solution to improve patient outcomes and well-being.
“A well-funded Pharmacy First program will mean that patients will go to their local pharmacy for minor ailments instead of their GP.
“This will immediately free up doctor appointments and A&E time and save the NHS money, as the figures in the report highlight.”
Professor Kamila Hawthorne, President of the Royal College of GPs, said: “Our in-store and online pharmacy colleagues do an excellent job for their communities and provide invaluable support to many GP practices against a backdrop of enormous workload and workload, so it is good that they are getting the support they need to remain viable and available to people with minor illnesses and conditions.
“Pharmacies are also experiencing a staffing crisis and the infrastructure of their premises must be significantly modernized in order to offer confidential services to patients.
“If implemented, it is probably not a cost-saving option.
“Pharmacists are not a substitute for general practitioners and the services they provide should not be seen as ‘low cost general practitioners’.
“While we would like to see initiatives that ease the pressure on our ailing GP service, pharmacists should not be expected to work beyond their remit and the government will find that their role is not a solution to the chronic shortage of GPs out there don’t have many patients. come to us with more than one problem, and some of the problems on the list can be quite complex medical problems.
“Patients should be able to get quality, safe and appropriate care when they need it – and in many cases they need the expert diagnostic skills and expertise of a GP.”
Alastair Buxton, director of NHS services at the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee, which represents pharmacists in their negotiations with the government and the NHS, said pharmacists could take more than 80 million appointments a year for a fraction of what the NHS spends on general practitioners pay.
He adds: “We know that pharmacies are already doing a lot to ease the pressure on GP practices, but that there is still a lot of room for improvement.
Expanding the supply of winter vaccines through pharmacy sites – as happened during the pandemic, when pharmacies dispensed 22 million Covid vaccines in a single year – could save GPs considerable time at immunization clinics each year.
“Over time, making pharmacies the place where all vaccinations take place would have an even greater impact.
“We also want a Pharmacy First service to be used and we made an offer to the government last year to do this.
“We estimate that such a service would require an initial investment of at least £400 million, but that with the right investments and prescribing rights for pharmacists, such a service could eventually lead to pharmacies serving more than 80 million appointments a day. adopt year.
“The cost of pharmacy interventions has traditionally been lower than the cost of doctor’s appointments, making pharmacies a very cost-effective investment for the NHS.”
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: “Over the next 18 months we will increase the support that pharmacists can provide, including taking referrals from A&E, managing oral contraceptive needs and supporting patients who are newly is with antidepressants. is prescribed.’
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Crystal Leahy is an author and health journalist who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a background in health and wellness, Crystal has a passion for helping people live their best lives through healthy habits and lifestyles.
