Pharmacy First: are insufficient GP referrals hindering its success? Despite ambitions to shift care from GPs to community pharmacies, uptake of the Pharmacy First service remains patchy. Here, exclusive GP referral data reveal what’s driving regional variation and what pharmacists say needs to change.…
Prescriptions and ponchos: pharmacy volunteers in the field As crowds descend on the UK’s festival circuit, a small team of pharmacists ensure attendees have access to medicines, emergency care and health advice.…
Pharmacy First uptake ‘not what we would like it to be’, says minister Pharmacy minister Stephen Kinnock said that the government will work to reform the financial arrangements for Pharmacy First to incentivise pharmacists to embrace the scheme.…
Urgent reform needed to fulfil Pharmacy First potential, say pharmacy and GP leaders Exclusive: A joint letter from local pharmaceutical committees and local medical committees in London has called on the government to improve patient access to Pharmacy First.…
Only one-third of pharmacies will meet new Pharmacy First monthly payment requirements, warns CCA A report published by the Company Chemists' Association said new Pharmacy First bundling requirements may leave the service “financially unviable”.…
Pharmacy First passes 5 million consultations landmark Data also show that in the first 13 months of the service, acute sore throat was the most common condition that patients sought help for, with more than 800,000 Pharmacy First consultations.…
The pharmacy funding boost is a step in the right direction but it will not go far enough This month, our health policy columnist warns that while the latest pharmacy contract announcements are good news for pharmacy, the damage from years of underfunding may be difficult to undo.…
Welsh community pharmacy to receive one-off £6m stability payment The Welsh government's investment in community pharmacies is equivalent to an added 30p per prescription item dispensed in January, February and March 2025.…
Delivering advanced services under the new pharmacy contract Data obtained by The Pharmaceutical Journal show that one in ten pharmacies have withdrawn from an advanced service since 2021, but will the new funding make it easier for them to deliver these services?…
English pharmacy sore throat service twice as likely to supply antibiotics than Welsh equivalent Researchers compared the antibiotic supply rates of the two schemes and found that 72.7% of patients in England were prescribed with antibiotics following a pharmacy consultation, compared with 29.9% in Wales.…
