Researchers from the London College of Hygiene & Tropical Medication (LSHTM) have been awarded £2.4m by the Nationwide Institute for Well being and Care Analysis (NIHR) to generate proof on the brand new Nationwide Well being Service (NHS) Pharmacy First service.
The service launched throughout England in January 2024 underneath the Authorities’s NHS Major Care Restoration Plan. From February 2024, collaborating pharmacies will be capable to provide prescription-only medicines for seven widespread circumstances: earache, uncomplicated urinary tract infections in ladies, sore throat, sinusitis, impetigo, shingles and contaminated insect bites, after session with a group pharmacist.
The analysis workforce will work in partnership with specialists on the UK Well being Safety Company (UKHSA) and the Universities of Oxford, Manchester, and Nottingham, to guage Pharmacy First’s take-up, security, fairness, cost-effectiveness and acceptability, in addition to its implications for antibiotic use and antimicrobial resistance.
I’m delighted to steer this advanced three-year Pharmacy First analysis, the place we’ll consider Pharmacy First’s influence on GPs and the broader NHS, pharmacy providers and sufferers.
Our workforce has experience in evaluating advanced coverage interventions, such because the final two UK Antimicrobial Resistance Nationwide Motion Plans, so alongside skilled exterior colleagues, we pays specific consideration to the influence of Pharmacy First on antibiotic prescribing and resistance throughout the well being system.”
Dr Rebecca Glover, Venture Lead, Assistant Professor in Antimicrobial Resistance at LSHTM
All through the analysis, the analysis groups will work intently with co-researchers who’re from traditionally marginalized-in-research and medically-underserved communities. Their evaluation will contribute to understanding of potential penalties of Pharmacy First for inequalities in entry to well being providers and outcomes.
At LSHTM, Dr Glover will collectively lead the mission with Professor Nicholas Mays, working alongside Drs Mirza Lalani, Agata Pacho, and Stephen O’Neill.
