This innovation is aimed at optimizing work and freeing GPs from the simplest prescriptions. According to the most realistic estimates cited by pharmaphorum.com, this will enable pharmacists to take over about 15 million visits to GPs.
The project will be financed from the budget of the UK Department of Health. It is planned to spend 645 million pounds sterling (815 million US dollars) on implementation.
Patients suffering from otitis media, sore throats, sinusitis, impetigo, shingles, insect bites and uncomplicated urinary tract infections (UTIs) in women will for the first time be able to receive prescription medication without a GP prescription.
Access to oral contraceptives will also become more affordable as women will no longer need to speak to a practice nurse or GP first, the government said in a statement. Similar schemes are already in place in Wales and Scotland.
The move comes amid a shortage of GPs – their numbers have fallen by around 4% over five years, while patient numbers and demand for them have risen. Meanwhile, figures released last month by the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) show that almost five million patients each month in England now wait more than two weeks to see a doctor.
Patients will also be able to self-refer for some services, including physiotherapy, hearing tests and orthopaedics, without first visiting their GP.
The innovation was backed by Torrun Govind, chairman of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society in England, who described the plans as a “game-changer” for patients that will help “reduce health inequalities, particularly in deprived areas where pharmacies are available but hospitals are not.”
