To ask the Minister of Health for his assessment of the role community pharmacies play in alleviating pressures on frontline NHS services.

Community pharmacy is one of the four pillars of primary care in Northern Ireland and provides vital services for local communities.

Community pharmacies are often the first point of contact with the HSC, with an estimated 123,000 patients and members of the public visiting community pharmacies every day in Northern Ireland to access medicines and seek advice from skilled pharmacists and pharmacy staff who are highly trusted by the public.

Examples of community pharmacy services that alleviate pressures on other frontline services include the Emergency Supply Service and Pharmacy First services.

All pharmacies offer an Emergency Supply Service for situations where people have run out of their medicines and they can’t access their general practice. Up to 16,000 items per month are supplied via this service, avoiding the need for patients to attend Out-of-Hours (OOH) medical services or Emergency Departments to access these medicines or go without essential treatment.

Pharmacy First is an umbrella term covering a range of therapy areas which are delivered in community pharmacies obviating the need for patients/clients to access other service providers such as GP practices, GP Out of Hours and Emergency Departments. The range of presentations that can be dealt with through Pharmacy First has expanded from every day conditions such as minor skin infections to management of Urinary Tract Infections and the provision of Emergency Hormonal Contraception (EHC).

Evaluation of Pharmacy First has demonstrated displacement of activity. For example, since the introduction in 2022 of the Pharmacy First Emergency hormonal contraception service there has been an overall reduction of 46% in the number of prescriptions for EHC issued by GP practices and a similar reduction of 53% in prescribing by OOH medical services.

The Community Pharmacy Strategic Plan 2030 commits to further expanding the range of Pharmacy First services. A new Pharmacy First Sore Throat service commenced on 1 December and will run until 31 March 2025 in the majority of community pharmacies. In addition, a Pharmacy First Treatment of Shingles pilot service is currently running in 50 pharmacies for 3 months.

My Department will be engaging with CPNI over the coming weeks to develop a Commissioning Plan for 2025-2028. These new commissioning arrangements will progress the ambitions set out by my Department’s strategic plan for community pharmacy which outlines a vision for delivery of more clinical services that utilise the skills of pharmacy teams and offer safe, convenient and timely access to care.