Pharmacists across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight are seeing and treating more patients than ever before. Clinical pharmacists are busy working within our GP practices and community pharmacists are treating more than 14,000 patients each month at our local pharmacies.
Last month, NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight launched the ‘It Takes a Team’ public information campaign to highlight the different specialists working within GP practices.
The 12-month campaign will throw a spotlight on a different specialist role each month and will feature people working within those roles in our local practices. This month we are focussing on our brilliant pharmacists working in both GP practices and community pharmacies.
Clinical pharmacists who work within our GP practices, carry out medication reviews for patients with complex, long-term needs and help them to manage their conditions. They work closely with the practice team to help with prescription and medication enquiries, supporting the repeat prescription system, and dealing with acute prescription requests. Clinical pharmacists also provide expert advice to ensure that patients get the best possible outcomes from their medicines through their safe and effective use and by addressing any potential harms.
Ricky Sharma, a pharmacist working at a practice in Southampton said: “I have worked as a pharmacist for almost 20 years, and I moved to general practice just over three years ago. I am also a registered independent prescriber.
“In my daily job, I focus on improving patients' medication therapy and prescribing for cardiovascular conditions. I collaborate closely with the GPs and other healthcare professionals at the practice and this teamwork helps ensure that the medications we prescribe leads to the best health outcomes for our patients.”
In the local community more than 160,000 people have used the Pharmacy First Service offered by community pharmacists since January 2024 which has freed up many GP appointments. Compared to other Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) in the south east region, this puts NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight second highest in terms of the number of completed consultations.
Community pharmacies can now offer a number of different services including free blood pressure checks for those over 40, free contraceptives following a consultation with a pharmacist without the need of a GP appointment and are seeing many patients with minor ailments who have been referred to them from their GP and NHS 111.
Hinal Patel, Community Pharmacy Clinical Integration Lead and NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight said: “It is great to see so many people across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight using the services offered by our community pharmacists. “Our GPs are busier than ever before and are seeing record numbers of patients each month, so by utilising the advice and knowledge of our pharmacists, it allows GPs to see those patients whose symptoms and illnesses can’t be treated by a pharmacist.”
The Pharmacy First scheme which launched on 31 January 2024 offers patients treatment for seven common conditions directly from their local pharmacy, without the need for a GP appointment or prescription. The seven conditions are:
- Sinusitis
- Sore throat
- Earache in children aged
- Infected insect bites
- Impetigo
- Shingles
- Uncomplicated urinary tract infections in women aged 16-64
Pharmacy First enables community pharmacists to advise on how to manage a condition and supply prescription-only medicines (without a prescription), including antibiotics and antivirals where clinically appropriate.
Pharmacists are also trained to advise as to whether you need to see a GP, nurse or other healthcare professional if it is something more serious to ensure you get the help you need. They are also trained to provide health and wellbeing advice.
Further information about the campaign and the specialist roles working in our local practices can be found here: It Takes A Team