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A regional pharmacy minor ailments scheme, which offers treatment for several conditions not covered by Pharmacy First, provided 61% more consultations in 2024 than the previous year.
Data published by Community Pharmacy Cornwall (CPC) show that the Community Pharmacy ‘Walk-In Consultation Service’ (WICS) — run locally by the NHS and CPC — recorded 19,567 consultations during 2024, compared with 12,138 in 2023.
Since the launch of the service in community pharmacies across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly in January 2021, more than 38,000 consultations have taken place under the service, with 80% of these resulting in advice or treatment that concluded the consultation in the pharmacy.
Data also suggest that an estimated 30,000 GP appointments have been avoided as a direct result of the service, as well as more than 500 inappropriate A&E visits since its launch.
Almost one-quarter (23.2%) of consultations involved patients who were registered with a GP outside of Cornwall, “providing access to advice and treatment where a visitor might otherwise need to seek to see a local GP as a temporary resident”, CPC said.
The self-referral service is offered alongside the national Pharmacy First clinical pathway service, which launched on 31 January 2024.
It offers patients walk-in access to consultations with locally accredited community pharmacists who can supply prescription-only medicines under patient group directions (PGDs) for several common conditions that are not currently covered by Pharmacy First. These include vaginal thrush, migraine, infected eyes in children aged under two years and emergency hormonal contraception.
PGDs that overlapped with Pharmacy First were discontinued when the national scheme launched.
Data obtained and analysed by The Pharmaceutical Journal in December 2024 show that NHS Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly Integrated Care Board recorded the lowest number of GP referrals to Pharmacy First in England in 2024.
Nick Kaye, chief executive of Community Pharmacy Cornwall, said: “Community pharmacies in Cornwall have led the way with [England’s first] walk-in service.
“We know that times are extremely hard for pharmacy teams right now and patients will have their own frustrations with the lack of investment in the sector nationally and that needs to urgently be rectified. Locally, however, we thank our health system partners for the support of this brilliant local service.”
Hugh Savage, chair of Kernow Local Medical Committee, which represents general practice in Cornwall, commented: “The WICS demonstrates the positive impact of local health partners working collaboratively to benefit patients.”
Pharmacy First provides treatment in community pharmacies for seven common conditions, offering community pharmacies monthly payments for providing the service and a £15 fee per consultation.
Earlier in January 2025, the government’s ‘Reforming elective care for patients’ plan outlined intentions to cut NHS waiting lists through several means, including by “maximising Pharmacy First approaches” to ear, nose and throat care.
