Services Database Community Pharmacy Walk In Consultation Service Pilot (WICS)

Service description/care pathway
The service requirements are as follows:

• Participating community pharmacies (CP) are required to have completed the CPCS registration declaration within the MYS portal.
• The CP must ensure that they meet the requirements of the CPCS service.
• Participating CPs are expected to offer access to all appropriate services they have commissioned.
• Participating pharmacies must read and abide by the local WiCS service specification.
• The CP must prepare and follow a standard operating procedure (SOP).
• All service provisions must be recorded in the local Walk in CP Consultation Service PharmOutcomes platform.
• The following statement must always be made to the patient at the end of the consultation: "If your symptoms do not improve or become worse, then either come back to see me or seek advice from your GP. You can call NHS 111 or 999 if the matter is urgent, and a pharmacist or GP is not available.”

A patient with symptoms of minor illness may self-refer to a community pharmacy for a private, professional consultation with the pharmacist regarding their symptoms and how to manage them. Pharmacy teams are encouraged to advise the patient that this service is available and refer them when clinically appropriate to the pharmacist to decide on the appropriate care, triage into WiCS, other services, or further escalation. A list of self-limiting conditions and acute mild illnesses that are usually suitable for advice and treatment from a community pharmacist may be found in appendix B1. (NOTE: This list is not exclusive; additional presenting symptoms and conditions may also be suitable consultation with the pharmacist.)
Those who usually manage their own conditions through self-care and the purchase of OTC medicines should continue to self-manage and treat their conditions.
The pharmacy will offer a face-to-face or telephone appointment between the patient and registered pharmacist, usually on the same day. This consultation will be held in the private pharmacy consultation room, usual guidance regarding chaperones will apply.

The consultation will follow the format of the national CPCS, including advice and purchased over the counter treatment or a treatment supplied under the MAS, as appropriate and if commissioned.
Pharmacists are trained to recognise ‘red flag’ symptoms suggestive of more serious illness and after initial triage, where symptoms do suggest something more serious, the pharmacist will help the patient to arrange an urgent GP appointment using the practice’s dedicated professional number or escalate to an urgent care setting such as a minor injuries unit or emergency department, if needed. (This may include heralding the patient if possible.) The NHS Service Finder provides access to information from the Directory of Services
(DoS) and nhs.uk. It allows pharmacy professionals to search for service information and contact details quickly.
The pharmacist will make a contemporaneous record of the consultation, including outcomes, using the local Walk in CP Consultation service PharmOutcomes platform.
Where the MAS is employed, or any other relevant service, the prevailing processes for that service must still be followed.