Pharm-assist

It is a conundrum that has bedevilled governments for almost two decades: how to keep more people well so they do not turn up at A&E.

- BY MARTIN BAGOT

Pharmacists are on the front line of Labour's vision for the NHS's future - and with more hospital work moving into local communities over the next decade, a lot of care is to be carried out in chemists and local health centres.

To see how this transformation is working in practice, I spent the day shadowing Naomi Haldane, a pharmacist in St Albans, Herts.

Based at a Boots branch in the town for 25 years, she is very much part of the community, having served multiple generations of families.

Historically, the job of a pharmacist was predominantly to check medicines and doses. Much of this work is now automated, so the modern pharmacist does a lot of patient consultations traditionally associated with a family doctor. Under the Pharmacy First scheme, pharmacists in England are now authorised to supply prescription-only medicines such as antibiotics and antivirals for seven common conditions without patients first seeing a GP.

These are sinusitis, sore throat, earache, infected insect bite, the bacterial skin infection impetigo, shingles, and uncomplicated urinary tract infections (UTIs) in women.

High street pharmacies usually have private consultation rooms and staff are proactive in offering tests, checks and advice to keep people well.

Sitting in a pharmacy for any length of time you realise they have become vital community hubs, almost a drop-in GP service for minor ailments.