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The National Pharmacy Association has urged the Government to set out an expanded Pharmacy First scheme in England in its NHS 10-year plan which will be published this summer.

The pharmacy trade body said a “turbo-charged” Pharmacy First service with a wide range of conditions will allow pharmacies to treat 20 million patients a year, almost five times more than they do now.

An analysis by the NPA found having a service similar to the one in Scotland could save 14 million GP appointments each year. Pharmacy First in Scotland has many more conditions than the seven under the English version.

NPA calls for greater engagement from GPs

The NPA wants to see conditions such as constipation, diarrhoea and certain bacterial skin infections added to Pharmacy First in England.

However, the service has been hindered by poor IT and a lack of referrals from general practice in some parts of the country. The NPA called for greater engagement from GPs to end “significant regional variation in the numbers of referrals into Pharmacy First by practices”.

Pharmacies have carried out more than five million consultations since the service launched in England in January 2024, equating to one in 12 people in the country.

However, about one in three people in Scotland used the service over the same period – 4.5 times higher than in England.

“This analysis shows that turbo-charging the Pharmacy First programme can help patients to beat the 8am scramble for a GP appointment,” said NPA chair Olivier Picard.

“Good progress has been made already since the introduction of the programme in England last year. However, the experience from Scotland shows there is even more potential to treat more patients for a wide variety of conditions that would otherwise see you visiting other more costly parts of the NHS.”

Picard said Labour’s 10-year plan for the health service was “a golden opportunity to seize the initiative and expand the role of community pharmacies” and help it achieve “the government’s ambitions for a genuine neighbourhood health service”.