NHS North East London is investigating a local and national “decline” in Pharmacy First referrals from GP practices and a “general reduction in Pharmacy First activity across all community pharmacies”, it last week (January 16) told C+D.
A spokesperson said that the ICB’s data shows “a significant proportion of people using the Pharmacy First service for minor illnesses and clinical pathway consultations in North East London comes from GP practice referrals”.
Read more: MP: GPs need ‘financial incentive’ to engage with Pharmacy First
“However, both local and national data indicates there has been a decline in referrals from GP practices during the period of July to August 2024,” they revealed.
“This decrease is also reflected in a general reduction in Pharmacy First activity across all community pharmacies in North East London - which is consistent both nationally and regionally,” they added.
“We are working to understand the reasons behind this,” the spokesperson said.
“Bulk” of GPs not referring
The comment comes as an MP this month called for “financial incentives” to be introduced to encourage GPs to “work with pharmacies” and engage with the Pharmacy First service.
He went on to claim that “there are disincentives for general practitioners to embrace” the new service.
Read more: Pharmacies losing £115m a year over ‘informal’ GP referrals
In November, GP leaders called for Pharmacy First to be “immediately discontinued” and funds “redirected” into general practice, as well as voting for pharmacy blood pressure checks to be “terminated with immediate effect”.
And the previous month, a new audit by the negotiator revealed that the pharmacy network lost more than £115-million-worth of potential Pharmacy First funding last year due to “informal referrals” by GPs and NHS 111.
Read more: NHSE: ‘We need to respect’ GPs refusing to let pharmacies update records
Meanwhile at the Pharmacy Show in Birmingham in October, NHS England (NHSE) officials said they would “respect” GP practices that have switched off Pharmacy First “update record” IT functionality.
Other sector leaders at the conference slammed GP surgeries for not engaging with the service.
“It’s clear that in some areas, GPs aren’t really making any effort to engage with Pharmacy First,” Community Pharmacy England (CPE) chief executive Janet Morrison told delegates at the time.
Read more: GPs need to ‘feel confident’ about Pharmacy First referrals, says BMA
And during a presentation on Pharmacy First data, Company Chemists’ Association (CCA) head of policy Nick Thayer said that “GP referrals are really not helping [with] Pharmacy First”.
He revealed that among CCA members, “fewer than 10% of consultations come from GP referrals - and not only that, not all GPs are created equal”.
“Some GPs are referring hundreds a month [but] the bulk of them are referring almost none,” he said at the time.
