AMR warning over Pharmacy First service

Pharmacy press

A coalition of scientists have urged caution against the Government’s new ‘Pharmacy First’ policy in an open letter to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. The group suggests that the policy could have harmful consequences, ‘unless it is implemented with due consideration given to antibiotic resistance’.

Read the letter, published in The Telegraph

Chief Executive Janet Morrison said:

“We completely agree that antimicrobial resistance is an important issue, and community pharmacists and their teams have been contributing to efforts to combat it for several years, including through the Pharmacy Quality Scheme. Pharmacists are highly trained healthcare professionals who understand medicines and their potential risks, and the experience of the Scottish and Welsh Pharmacy First schemes, not to mention many local schemes in England, suggests that pharmacists are more cautious about supplying antibiotics than other healthcare professionals.”