Up to 30 per cent of all calls to NHS 111 services on Saturdays are for urgent requests for repeat medicines. A research study exploring the relationships between community pharmacy and urgent and emergency care services (also in Kent, Surrey and Sussex) found that 29 per cent of pharmacists would be unlikely to make an emergency supply of a repeat medicine, even when all of the legal requirements were met. If the request for emergency supply was made out of hours, they were likely to advise patients to call NHS 111 or access a walk-in centre. 

Community pharmacies can however be commissioned to provide emergency supplies of medicines at NHS expense, where appropriate. NHS England has published guidance on commissioning this type of service and on how NHS 111 services can establish direct referrals to pharmacy. You can find links to the guidance via NHS England.

The ability to access information from a patient's summary care record (SCR) should help pharmacy professionals to make efficient and effective decisions when urgent care is requested. Roll-out of access to the patient's SCR for all community pharmacies began in autumn 2015 and is expected to be completed by autumn 2017.