The NHS Community Pharmacist Consultation Service (CPCS) offers patients same day minor illness consultations with a community pharmacist. Working in conjunction with the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) and the British Medical Association (BMA) the service was developed to allow practice teams to refer low acuity patients for convenient, same-day consultations with clinical advice and, where indicated, the purchase of any over-the-counter medicine the patient may need.
This new service can support general practice to ensure patients are seen by the right healthcare professional, in the right place, at the right time and will help make more GP appointments available for those with higher acuity needs.
When a patient with minor illness symptoms contacts their GP practice requesting an appointment the on call doctor will triage the request. If their symptoms are appropriate, the GP practice can refer them for a same-day consultation with a community pharmacist. With the patient’s consent, the practice team can send an electronic referral message to the pharmacy to support safe follow up and audit.
Following the referral, the pharmacist will contact the patient the same day by phone and either carry out the consultation by telephone, or arrange for the patient to attend the pharmacy, if appropriate. Some patients may be offered a video consultation by the pharmacist.
The pharmacist will take the patient’s clinical history and ask about symptoms and any current medication. Following the consultation, the pharmacist will offer clinical advice and may sell the patient an over the counter product if appropriate and they agree.
Pharmacists are trained to recognise ‘red flag’ symptoms suggestive of more serious illness and after initial triage, where symptoms do suggest something more serious, the pharmacist will help the patient to arrange an urgent GP appointment using the practice’s dedicated professional number or escalate to an urgent care setting such as the emergency department, if needed.
The pharmacist will make a record of the outcome of the consultation and send it to the patient’s GP by secure digital message.