Pharmacy First myth busting series (#8)

This is the eighth 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.


It is fine to always select ‘other’ and free type the outcome of the consultation in the Pharmacy First IT system, rather than select the most appropriate outcome from the list of options.
Wrong! Pharmacists should be selecting the most appropriate outcome from the list provided within the Pharmacy First IT system and only free typing text on the very rare occasion that the outcome does not fit into one of the outcome options.

NHS England uses the outcome data to demonstrate the benefits of the Pharmacy First service; if entries are free typed, this limits their ability to showcase this.

Here are some examples of free-typed outcomes and the correct option from the list in the IT system which should have been selected:

Example of free text Drop down option
Referred to GP Urgent escalation to another service
Benzydamine / Difflam spray sold OTC Sale of an Over-the-Counter (OTC) medicine
Sale of an OTC item + advice Sale of an OTC medicine (there is an assumption that all OTC sales will include the provision of advice)
Earwax build-up Non-urgent signposting to another service
Return in a couple of days Advice given
Self-care advice given Advice given

The ‘other’ option when selecting an outcome of a consultation should be used to record additional information about the consultation.
Wrong! If you wish to add further detailed information about the consultation or outcome, Pharmacy First IT systems offer an additional field to record this information.

If a patient has been verbally signposted instead of digitally referred, I can treat this as a referral.
Wrong! A referral within the NHS means one healthcare provider asks another healthcare provider to provide a service to a patient. As such, a referral requires a referral message to be sent from one provider to the other.

Where a patient is advised by one provider to seek assistance from another healthcare provider, whether that advice is provided verbally or in writing, that patient is being signposted to the other provider and not referred. Where a patient is signposted, the patient takes on the responsibility to make contact with the healthcare provider, as that organisation is not aware the patient has been directed to them.

Referrals to the Pharmacy First service need to be sent to the patient’s chosen pharmacy in a secure, electronic manner that complies with the standards laid out in the NHS CPCS Technical Toolkit; signposting does not count as a referral.

View additional myths on our Pharmacy First myth busting page