Patients across the Isle of Wight can now get treatment for 7 common conditions at their High Street pharmacy without needing to see a GP, as part of a major transformation in the way the NHS delivers care. More than 9 in 10 community pharmacies in the South East – over 1,381 in total – will be offering the ground-breaking initiative, with the health service making it easier and more convenient for people to access care. Unfortunately, a list of participating pharmacies has not been made available. Highly trained pharmacists will be able to assess and treat patients for sinusitis, sore throat, earache, infected insect bite, impetigo, shingles, and uncomplicated urinary tract infections in women (under the age of 65) without the need for an appointment or prescription. Alison Taylor, NHS England South East’s Medical Director, says:
“Today sees the continued expansion of the role of community pharmacies in the South East, providing quicker and easier access to healthcare on the high street, making it as easy as possible for people to get the help they need. “This is great news for patients – from today you can pop into one of more than 10,000 high street pharmacies in England to get a consultation on seven common conditions including ear-ache, a sore throat or sinusitis at a convenient time, with many pharmacies open late into the evening – a great help for all of us leading increasingly busy lives.
It builds on the successful expansion of the contraceptive pill service in December 2023, with 1 in 4 pharmacies (380) in the South East now offering women the chance to get a supply of oral contraception over the counter from their pharmacy without needing to first see their GP. In future, the NHS expects almost half a million women a year to receive their contraception from their High Street pharmacist. The major expansion of pharmacy services will give the public more choice in where and how they access care, aiming to free up 10million GP appointments a year nationally.
Cost cutting that is all this is. These people are not trained as doctors and yet they are expected to do a doctors job. All part of running down of NHS doctors services as we have already seen with NHS dentists.
So just what do you expect to occur with a never ending stream of people arriving who’ve never paid in to the country, nor has any of their ancestors but ALL will get the same treatment as us furthering decline in our treatment.
Next time you are queuing think.
They’ve been doing this with great success in Scotland and Ireland for some years with great success? Pharmacists aren’t that different to Doctors, the biggest difference is liability insurance.
What’s a GP? Haven’t seen them in years still hiding away yet getting paid
Cut their pay
This might work in larger Pharmacies but it takes long enough to get a prescription as it is in most local ones .Unless you have to make an appointment to see them this is going to make getting your prescription troublesome .
The waiting time for a prescription to be filled is at least 7 days.
It doesn’t help then when you come to collect it you are told with a shrug of the shoulders “sorry can’t get your item”. Wait another week and still the same, just advised to speak to the GP for an alternative…
Since the Plandemic GPs have been work shy
Its because their too busy counting all the cash they got paid for giving the covid jabs…
Maybe they are in hiding due to the side effects the jabs have given patients.
Nowdays GP Surgery’s don’t even answer the phone
Lol
Pharmacists are busy enough as it is.
This will not save anything in the long term as pharmacies may have to employ extra staff to cope with the extra demand
I feel for the pharmacist, so many hats to wear !
Hope they get a pay rise .
What with flu jabs, prescriptions to fill and now seeing patients…….
And not forgetting there is a shortage of pharmacists!!!!!
And chemists closing…..
Good luck to them .
Pharmacists will be doing minor surgeries and pulling teeth next year.
Probably.!!!!!
This will further add to disharmony, as those working in pharmacy many are on low wages, whilst Doctors get thousands, and if you are serving in a pharmacy your workload will increase, your exposure to germ infested people will increase, as will agro from disgruntled customers, queuing for longer etc, all for ‘just’ above min wage, whilst Doc’s retire early with huge pensions and are rare to see as the Great Crested Newt.
I think you will find that pharmacists also “get thousands”. The average salary is over £50,000. The counter staff are usually not pharmacists.
But a lot of us counter staff are expected to triage patients and at the front dealing with all the requests for average wage we triage to be able to help over the counter and only refers to pharmacist if needed. More pressure on everyone at the pharmacy. Especially those serving everyone with ques out the door on a good day expected to take pressure of gps by putting more strain on pharmacies. On probably like 20%/25% of a doctors wage!
Sore throat and earache are new items? I’d think those two are already solvable easily by OTC? Just a spray and you’re done.
Doctors surgeries are inching slowly the same way as the dentists, they are desperate to shift all the non-profitable services onto pharmacists or stopping certain services all together. You watch, it is only a matter of time until the surgery’s work out they can make more money going totally private and charging appointment fees, just like the dentists.
What’s the list here then on the island?