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The NHS Pharmacy First service in Scotland is set to expand by adding more conditions to the list that community pharmacies can treat, the first minister has said.
In a speech on improving public services and NHS renewal given at the National Robotarium in Edinburgh on 27 January 2025, John Swinney, first minister for Scotland, told the audience: “I want to see the NHS Scotland Pharmacy First service expand so that community pharmacies can treat a greater number of clinical conditions and prevent the need for a GP visit in the first place.”
Scotland’s NHS Pharmacy First service currently allows pharmacists to advise and treat patients seeking help for 29 minor health concerns, such as sore throat, earache, cold sores and urinary tract infections.
Following the speech, Jonathan Burton, chair of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s (RPS) Scottish Pharmacy Board, asked the first minister to provide assurances that support for community pharmacy would be put in place, including in delivering postgraduate training, clinical supervision and, critically, providing community pharmacists with access to patient records to enable them to deliver services as effectively and safely as possible.
The RPS reported that the first minister said in response that ensuring adequate support for pharmacists in the ways described was entirely reasonable.
Laura Wilson, director for Scotland at the RPS, added: “Pharmacists and pharmacy teams already provide a wide range of services in their communities through Pharmacy First and Pharmacy First Plus.
“With additional support and resources, for example read/write access to shared patient data to ensure pharmacists have access to all the information they need to treat patients in the community, and access to training opportunities, there is the potential for pharmacy teams to expand these services.
“We would welcome discussions with [the] Scottish government and other key stakeholders about any proposed expansion to these services with the aim of transforming patient care,” she added.
A spokesperson for Community Pharmacy Scotland (CPS) said: “The NHS Pharmacy First service has been well received by the public in Scotland, with annualised activity more than doubled since the service launched in 2020, so this expansion makes sense. CPS will focus on the details to enable these service developments, alongside funding requirements, for our network of pharmacies.”
A statement published by CPS on 28 January 2025 also said that securing “appropriate funding” for the resources to support this expansion would be “essential to ensure pharmacy teams are equipped to deliver these services effectively, while managing the pressures pharmacy teams face on the front line”.
Launched across Scotland in July 2020, the number of consultations carried out under Scotland’s NHS Pharmacy First service increased by 60% in the first three full years since it launched.
Pharmacists in Scotland have also been able to independently prescribe through the NHS Pharmacy First Plus service since September 2020. The pharmacist independent prescriber-led service allows community pharmacists to treat common clinical conditions beyond the scope of the standard Pharmacy First service, which would otherwise require referral to another healthcare professional.
