Nearly 1,000 appointments at Isle of Wight GP practices each week may be taken up by people who could have gone to their pharmacy for help or advice.
As part of a new national ‘Stay Well Pharmacy’ campaign, NHS England say that 27% of general practice appointments are avoidable, including 6% of cases in which the patient could have gone to their local pharmacy for advice and support.
There are an average 3,280 urgent and routine appointments a day (16,400 a week) with healthcare professionals on the island, including GPs and nurses. That means that, using the NHS figures, more than 4,400 appointments a week could be avoidable, including nearly 1,000 (984) for people who could have specifically gone to a pharmacy.
There are 30 pharmacies on the Island which offer clinical advice for a wide range of minor health concerns.
Dr Michele Legg, the Ryde GP who chairs the Isle of Wight Clinical Commissioning Group, said:
“We are not in the business of trying to stop anyone from coming to see us if they are unwell – but we would ask people to think of the other options available to them if they are a feeling a bit under the weather.
“Pharmacies, for example, are a great resource for islanders. No appointment is needed. They can help with many aspects of health care, and some offer extended opening hours at evenings and weekends.
“Using a pharmacy as the first point of call for clinical advice for minor health concerns will help to free up GP time for more urgent appointments and possibly help to reduce non-emergency A&E visits, considerably reducing pressure on the NHS.
Article continues below this advertisement “We obviously promote self-care as much as we can for minor health concerns such as colds as tummy aches and colds. Having more people make better use of their local pharmacy could make a big difference to relieving pressure on GPs and help speed up appointment times for those patients who most need to see us.”
Your pharmacist can advise on the following:
• the treatment of minor health concerns such as coughs, colds, tummy troubles, teething and aches and pains
• clinical advice and support for patients with long-term conditions
• explaining how to take new medicines
• reviewing medicines use to ensure safety
• providing healthy living services, e.g. advice on quitting smoking, losing weight, reducing alcohol consumption, sexual health or increasing physical activity
• flu vaccinations.
Nationally, around 18 million GP appointments and 2.1 million visits to A&E are for self-treatable conditions – at a cost of more than £850m a year to the NHS. This is the equivalent of more than 220,000 hip replacements or 880,000 cataract operations.
The 12-week NHS ‘Stay Well Pharmacy’ campaign is being supported by a TV advert, and digital and social media advertising.
