Pharmacy: managing minor illnesses through community pharmacy

Community pharmacy-led minor illness management services have been developed in order to address demand in general practice by providing an alternative pathway for patients who would otherwise make an appointment with their GP. The pharmacy-led service operates with a defined set of conditions and agreed local treatment protocols. Treatment is free of charge for those patients who are exempt from standard NHS prescription charges.

Our "How to ..." Guide draws on the experience of case study PCTs where successful minor illness management services have been implemented and demonstrates how the skills and abilities of community pharmacists can be harnessed to support their practices to manage demand for minor illnesses.

Key ingredients for a successful pharmacy-led minor illness service include:

  • Getting off to a good start – developing a successful pharmacy-led minor illness scheme requires the support of pharmacies and practices, keeping these stakeholders involved through its development and roll out is crucial
  • Securing funding – the minor illness service will need to have identified funding to pay for the pharmacists' consultations and the cost of the medicines supplied
  • Developing protocols – Patients and GPs will want to ensure that the service is consistent and fits with the wider approach to minor illness management in the PCT. Developing a set of shared protocols will help to ensure a consistent approach
  • Understanding demand – demand for minor illness consultations in pharmacy schemes is concentrated among children and parents so ensuring that your scheme includes treatment for common childhood illnesses will be vital to its success
  • Getting practices on board – practices, especially the reception staff, have a key role to play in channelling demand to pharmacy
  • Keeping patients informed – helping patients to understand and navigate the new service will help to embed the change so that next time they have a minor illness they know where to go first.

Find out more about how to set up or develop a pharmacy-led minor illness service using our "How to ..." Guide.