The chief pharmaceutical officer for England David Webb has insisted NHS England is “investing to significantly improve” the digital systems linking GPs and pharmacies to help the roll-out of Pharmacy First.

Webb (pictured) told the Independent Pharmacy Awards at the House of Commons on Friday that NHSE is working with community pharmacy and general practice IT suppliers to ensure pharmacists can send updates directly to the GP patient record after a Pharmacy First consultation.

Insisting the service has been “incredibly well received by patients and community pharmacy,” Webb said investment was being made to improve interoperability between GPs and pharmacists as part of NHSE’s plan to give patients better access to primary care.

“It’s important that as part of the Delivery Plan for Recovering Access to Primary Care, we are investing to significantly improve the digital infrastructure between general practice and community pharmacy,” he said.

“NHS England has been working with community pharmacy suppliers and general practice IT suppliers to develop and deliver interoperable digital solutions allow community pharmacists to send update messages following a pharmacy consultation directly into the GP patient record.”

Lack of referrals from GPs and IT problems

However, pharmacists in some parts of England have reported other issues with Pharmacy First, including a lack of referrals from GPs and IT problems that have prevented them from completing consultations.

Wahid Karim, the pharmacist at New Mill Pharmacy in West Yorkshire, told Independent Community Pharmacist he gets “zero referrals” from his local GP.

“We are having a terrible time with Pharmacy First in our area as the local GP practice owns his own online pharmacy,” he said. “Funnily enough, they are processing more than 1,200-plus Pharmacy Firsts every month.”

Some pharmacists believe NHSE failed to launch an effective enough Pharmacy First public awareness campaign to drive patients to pharmacies.

Umesh Solanki, a pharmacist at Holmfield Chemist in Derbyshire, told ICP he has carried out his own advertising campaign having had few referrals from GPs but has struggled to achieve 20 consultations a month.

“I have advertised in a local magazine and on my Facebook and Instagram pages,” he said. “We also hand out leaflets about the service to our patients, especially if they come in for advice or have had antibiotics prescribed for the seven conditions.

“We have various window posters and instore displays about the service. My average consultations is 16 per month since February.”

Webb also told the Independent Pharmacy Awards that community pharmacy primary care network engagement leads will be “critical” in supporting the implementation of Pharmacy First, blood pressure checks and pharmacy contraception service.

“The role will be critical in shaping the engagement between community pharmacy and the primary care network, facilitating partnership to support integrated clinical pathways for patients, and is very good news,” he said.