News alert / Pharmacy first to go live in January
Pharmacy first – a new service that will enable pharmacists to supply NHS medicines to treat seven common health conditions – will launch on 31 January 2024, the Department of Health and Social Care advised this week. This will add to pharmacist activities including urgent repeat medicine supply and NHS referrals for minor illness that were previously commissioned as the community pharmacist consultation service. The seven clinical pathways include: sinusitis; sore throat; earache; infected insect bite; impetigo; shingles; and uncomplicated urinary tract infections in women. The pharmacy first fee structure includes an initial fixed payment of £2,000, plus a £15 item of service fee for each consultation and a monthly fixed payment of £1,000 for contractors who reach a minimum number of monthly consultations. Additional funding is sufficient for up to 12 million consultations per year.
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