A pilot study conducted at a Boots UK store has shown that community pharmacy based screening could prevent unnecessary antibiotic use for sore throats.

Patients presenting at the pharmacy with a sore throat received a throat swab test for Group A streptococcal pharyngitis – the most common cause of bacterial throat infections. Three-quarters of patients were found to be negative and were therefore advised not to visit their GP to request antibiotics.

If all sore throat cases were screened in a pharmacy first, the researchers calculated that 800,000 GP appointments could be re-directed to pharmacy, helping to fight antibiotic overuse and resistance, as well as reducing GP workloads.

Philip Howard, NHS Improvement Antimicrobial Resistance project lead, said: “The principal benefit of this type of service would be in saving unnecessary antibiotic usage in potentially large numbers of community patients.”