Raising awareness of Pharmacy First in the community

Pharmacy First is still a relatively new service, and at the time of writing only available in England, and many customers will not have made use of it yet. Community Pharmacy England (CPE) has developed a range of materials and resources including posters, social media assets and an animation which pharmacy teams can use to promote Pharmacy First to patients. Depending on how much room, and what facilities are available in the pharmacy, suggestions include:

• Display CPE posters and NHS England posters about the Pharmacy First service, which are available to download and print
• Pharmacies with digital screens can play CPE’s video and digital screen options about the service
• Community pharmacies with a social media account can use CPE social media tiles and suggested social media posts to promote the service
• CPE has also produced small flyers about the Pharmacy First service which can be attached to prescription bags and used as a prompt to make patients aware of the service when handing out prescriptions. 
• And finally, community pharmacies with their own website can promote the service on there as well. CPE has a template news story (and a shorter version) which could be used, as well as an animation aimed at patients which could be linked to the pharmacy website.

The ability of community pharmacies to offer the expanded range of treatment that Pharmacy First opens up is already proving to reduce pressures on general practice. While every pharmacy is a business and needs to make a profi t to survive in a competitive market, offering the best health advice and solutions to patients and treating them with care and respect is the best way to develop good relationships with customers and retain their loyalty.