Pharmacy First myth busting series (#10)
This is the tenth of a series of articles to tackle some of the misconceptions around Pharmacy First. The articles will cover a variety of aspects of Pharmacy First and aims to myth bust, to increase understanding of the service.
Remote Pharmacy First consultations can be provided by a pharmacist who is not present on the pharmacy premises.
Wrong! Any pharmacist providing the service must be at the pharmacy premises when providing a remote consultation to a patient.
I must reject Urgent medicine supply referrals from NHS 111 if a patient’s GP practice is still open.
Wrong! Patients should be advised to contact the GP practice if this is practically the most appropriate option to obtain their medicine or appliance. This may not be possible if, for example, the patient is away from home and unable to access their GP practice or where the GP practice will not be able to issue a prescription in a timely manner, such that the patient can get that prescription dispensed in time for their next required dose of the medicine.
The pharmacist will need to assess each individual request and the circumstances of the patient to determine whether it is appropriate to make a supply via the Pharmacy First service.
Patients have been assessed by a clinician when a referral is made from NHS 111 for an urgent medicine/appliance to assess if it is clinically appropriate to make a supply.
Wrong! Most NHS 111 call advisors are not clinicians so they cannot assess the legality or clinical appropriateness of the emergency supply request. They are also not trained on the Human Medicines Regulations to determine what constitutes a valid emergency supply.
An NHS 111 call handler should advise patients when sending a referral that the pharmacist may decide to make a supply, however this will be at the professional discretion of the pharmacist.
I have completed a Clinical pathway consultation with a patient and they have passed the Gateway point. I have referred the patient to another local pharmacy as I do not have the medicine that the patient needs in stock. I can claim a consultation fee for this.
Wrong! If the pharmacist has had to refer the patient to another pharmacy to obtain their medicine from a Clinical pathway consultation, the referring pharmacy cannot claim a consultation fee for this. This applies if the patient is a walk-in patient (self-refers) or is electronically referred to the service.
View additional myths on our Pharmacy First myth busting page