Individuals can access the service by any of the following routes: 

• Identified as clinically suitable by the pharmacist and accepts the offer of the service 
• Self-refer to a community pharmacy 
• Referred by their general practice 
• Referred from a sexual health clinic or equivalent 
• Referred from other NHS service providers, e.g. urgent treatment centres or NHS 111. 

Please see below information regarding the contraception consultation. 

• The service specification has inclusion and exclusion criteria, the pharmacist will discuss the criteria during the consultation to check eligibility.
• Verbal consent must be sought from the individual by the pharmacist and recorded.
• Before supply of a combined contraception pill, a blood pressure reading and a BMI, will need to be recorded, according to the PGD protocol. 
• On initiation of the combined contraception pill, the supplied quantity will only be for 3 months.
• Following initiation, ongoing supplies of up to 12 months duration can be made.  

From 31st January 2024, people across the area can pop down to their local pharmacy for help with seven minor conditions which would previously have required a GP appointment.

The benefits of this service are as follows:

1. The pharmacy will be able to offer more support than ever before to the local community. 
2. People can get help quickly and easily
3. GP surgery queues will be reduced
4. Pharmacists can put their clinical skills to good use.
5. This new service will give the public more choice about where and when they can access help with minor health conditions. 
6. This new service will make it easier for people to access the healthcare advice and support they need, when they need it.
7. Pharmacists are medicines experts and members of the public should feel assured that the healthcare advice they receive from pharmacists and their teams will be second to none. 

The 7 clinical conditions are listed below:

1. Sinusitis – for children and adults aged 12 years and over;
2. Sore throat – for children and adults aged 5 years and over;
3. Earache (Acute otitis media) – for children aged 1 to 17 years;
4. Infected insect bite – for children and adults aged 1 year and over;
5. Impetigo – for children and adults aged 1 year and over;
6. Shingles – for adults aged 18 years and over; and
7. Uncomplicated urinary tract infections - in women aged 16 to 64 years.

From Monday 6th November 2023 we started providing the Lateral flow device tests supply service for patients potentially eligible for COVID-19 treatments (LFD service). The LFD service, which is an Advanced service allows eligible patients who have risk factors for progression to severe COVID-19 to obtain LFD test kits from participating community pharmacies.

Access to LFD test kits allows eligible patients to self-test if they have symptoms which suggest they may have COVID-19, with the potential for them to access treatment if the result is positive.

This is a walk-in service where patients or their representatives can collect one box of 5 LFD tests from a participating community pharmacy on confirmation that the patient is part of the potentially eligible for COVID-19 treatments cohort.

The full list of eligible patients aged 12 years and over that are at risk of getting seriously ill from COVID-19 and therefore potentially eligible for COVID-19 treatments can be found in the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance Supporting information on risk factors for progression to severe COVID-19.

Prior to 27th June 2023, any patients previously identified as being eligible for access to free LFD tests and assessment for COVID-19 treatments were contacted by the NHS. Patients who are newly eligible for access to free LFD tests will be made aware of their eligibility by their doctor or specialist at the point they are diagnosed with a qualifying condition or commence a qualifying treatment regimen.

The pharmacy owner must confirm the patient’s eligibility for a supply of LFD tests. This could be by:

• Seeing the patient’s NHS letter which confirms eligibility;
• Having a discussion with the patient or their representative about the patient’s medical history, confirming they have a qualifying condition. The pharmacist or pharmacy technician may wish to review the National Care Records Service (NCRS) and then use their clinical judgement; or
• Referring to the pharmacy’s clinical records for the service, where the pharmacy has previously seen and made a record of having seen a copy of the patient’s NHS letter confirming eligibility.

Eligible patients should only receive one box of 5 LFD tests per consultation.

We welcome feedback so please let us know what you think.