Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to ensure that patients will not face delayed (a) diagnoses and (b) treatments under the new system of care navigation and expanded pharmacy services.

The purpose of commissioning community pharmacy to supply prescription only medicines for seven common conditions and in training care navigators in general practices (GPs) to refer patient to appropriate health professionals for care is to release GP appointments for patients with more serious conditions.

Detailed patient group directions and service specifications have been developed to support the new Pharmacy First Service which will include ‘red flags’ which means that anyone suspected of a more serious conditions will be referred to a GP. Pharmacists are highly qualified clinicians who train for five years and already see patients and treat them with medicines that can be supplied over the counter at pharmacies and refer a range of patients with commons conditions. This new service enables them to complete more episodes of care.