“Shifting people from a GP-first to a Pharmacy First culture may be a challenge”, a new report from Healthwatch England has found.
The report, which surveyed 1,650 people in England between November 20 and 26, found that “around two-thirds to three-quarters of those who said they are unlikely to use a pharmacy for the seven conditions said it was because they prefer seeing a doctor”.
Read more: Nearly a third of Scots use country’s Pharmacy First service, data reveals
It said that this was both “due to their personal preference” and “a lack of awareness of the services pharmacies offer”.
The statutory body called for a “culture change” away from the “GP-led” primary care approach “ingrained in public attitudes”.
Read more: Fifth of pharmacies warn May Pharmacy First threshold increase ‘unachievable’
“A GP-first culture will need changing if Pharmacy First is to work,” it said.
“The public must be aware of what services pharmacies can offer” and “willing and confident to access those services at a pharmacy,” it added.
But there is a “risk that this confidence is eroded by the problems people encounter accessing pharmacies’ core services due to staff and medication shortages, as well as permanent and temporary closures", the report found.
“Enhanced communications” needed
Reflecting on the report, Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) England board chair Tase Oputu said that the new common conditions service “must be backed up by enhanced communications”.
“Pharmacists are really keen to use their skills to better support patients through new services such as Pharmacy First,” she added.
And National Pharmacy Association (NPA) chair Nick Kaye said that Healthwatch “is doing everyone a service by highlighting the vital importance of community pharmacies” and has “correctly [identified] that the public now expects more from pharmacies”.
Read more: Pharmacy First ‘league tables’ piling pressure on pharmacy staff, PDA warns
Community Pharmacy England (CPE) chief executive Janet Morrison said that CPE the negotiator has “had productive discussions already on how to improve services for patients”.
“We look forward to continuing this dialogue as we work to secure both sustainable funding and future service developments for community pharmacies,” she added.
The report also revealed that some pharmacy users have “concerns with the trustworthiness of the service offered by online pharmacies”, with just 18% of respondents using an online pharmacy in the past three months.
Pharmacy First flubs
Last week, C+D reported that a fifth of pharmacies polled by the Independent Pharmacies Association (IPA) – formerly known as the Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies (AIMp) - believed that this month’s increase in Pharmacy First minimum thresholds will be “unachievable”.
Some 72% said they were already “struggling” to achieve the current monthly minimum threshold, while 13% said they weren’t meeting it at all.
And almost 60% of respondents deemed Pharmacy First “time consuming and underpaid”.
Read more: Local pharmacy chain launches app for Pharmacy First consultation bookings
Meanwhile, pharmacy minister Dame Andrea Leadsom admitted that it is “not possible” for the government to “monitor the number of GP appointments Pharmacy First frees up”.
When the service was announced last year, the government had estimated Pharmacy First would save up to up to 10 million GP appointments per year, a claim it reiterated in November.
