Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the wider use of other NHS Primary Care providers to ease the pressures on General Practice.

The Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF) 2019-24 five-year deal sets out the vision for how community pharmacy will support the NHS Long Term Plan by being better integrated into the National Health Service, delivering more clinical services, and becoming the first port of call for minor illness. All community pharmacies provide health advice including support for self-care and healthy living advice. NHS 111 phone and online as well as general practitioner practices can refer patients with a minor illness to a community pharmacy and this will be expanded to urgent and emergency care setting in March. Most pharmacies now also carry out blood pressure checks. From Autumn, pharmacies will also be able to supply oral contraception without a visit to general practice.

In addition, NHS England’s 2023/24 priorities and operational planning guidance published in December 2022 asks systems to expand direct access and self-referrals to community health services to empower patients to take control of their healthcare.