Identifying patients for Pharmacy First

Effective communication skills are essential for pharmacy professionals to provide the NHS Pharmacy First service.

In walk-in cases, pharmacy team members can identify patients who may be eligible for the Pharmacy First clinical pathway consultations service by asking questions about their condition to see if they meet the clinical criteria for one of the seven specific conditions. For example, patients must be at least 12 years old to receive treatment for sinusitis; aged between one and 17 for treatment for acute otitis media; and at least one year old to receive treatment for impetigo or an infected insect bite. As well as asking the right questions, active listening by fully focusing on a patient and their perspective will make them feel heard and understood. Active listening includes showing empathy, asking open-ended questions to encourage the patient to share more details, and responding appropriately in a thoughtful and helpful way.

Explain to eligible patients that having listened to their symptoms, they are suitable to have a referral to a community pharmacist who is able to see and treat them at a time convenient to them. For patients who are unsure of or are unfamiliar with the service, pharmacy teams may need to reassure them that community pharmacists are highly trained healthcare professionals and are now able to do more assessments and issue prescription-only medications for specific conditions if appropriate. And, while community pharmacies can only manage walk-in patients for the Pharmacy First clinical pathway consultations service if they meet the criteria for the seven common conditions, it’s worth remembering that if a patient is electronically referred for a clinical pathway condition but does not meet the eligibility criteria, they can instead be seen under the minor illness strand of the service. For example, if a patient is electronically referred for earache but is an adult, they would not be eligible for the acute otitis media clinical pathway, but the pharmacist could provide the minor illness strand of the service for them.