New study of NHS emergency supply service published (January 2016)

Published on: 16th May 2017 | Updated on: 28th March 2022

British Medical Journal Open has published an evaluation of an NHS funded community pharmacy emergency repeat medication supply service (PERMSS).

The study examined the cases of 2,485 self-presenting patients to 227 pharmacies across the North East of England who were accredited to prove the PERMSS service.

In the absence of this service, 50% of patients would have missed their medication until they saw their GP. A further 46% of patients would have accessed another out of hours (OOH) service.

The authors found that PERMSS offers a more economical option to the NHS for the management of these patients’ OOH and outside emergency and urgent care service providers (A&E and GP OOH).

The evaluation concludes that the service appears to be an appropriate response to the recent calls for emergency supplies to be provided by community pharmacies in order to reduce the burden on the wider NHS.

For more information on this topic please email comms.team@cpe.org.uk

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