Some 423,310 Pharmacy First consultations were delivered in the first three months of the service, official figures from the NHS Business Service Authority (NHSBSA) have revealed.
A total of 9,976 community pharmacies claimed payments for the service, although the number of those claiming on a monthly basis in February, March and April appears to be lower than this.
On average, community pharmacies delivered between 14 and 17 consultations per month - well above the targets of one consultation for the first month and five by April 2024.
However, the average figures do not detail the variation between contractors, meaning that some community pharmacies could be delivering more and less than this amount in each month.
| Feb-24 | Mar-24 | Apr-24 | Total (Feb-24 to Apr-24) | |
| Claimed consultations | 125,275 | 144,389 | 153,646 | 423,310 |
| Number of community pharmacies claiming | 9,118 | 9,219 | 9,126 | 9,976 |
| Average number of consultations per pharmacy | 14 | 16 | 17 | 42 |
Over a third (36.1%) of Pharmacy First consultations from February to April were for sore throats, while a quarter (25.8%) were for urinary tract infections (UTIs).
Meanwhile, 14.4% were for earache, 12.6% were for sinusitis, 4.9% were for impetigo, 3.2% were for infected insect bites and 3% were for shingles.
NHSBSA said that 78% of Pharmacy First consultations resulted in a medicine being supplied to patients, and cited additional figures from NHS England that showed that 15% of consultations resulted in advice only.
| Clinical pathway | Feb-24 | Mar-24 | Apr-24 | Total (Feb-24 to Apr-24) | % |
| Acute Sore Throat | 41,014 | 54,756 | 56,925 | 152,695 | 36.1% |
| Uncomplicated Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs) | 32,678 | 34,536 | 41,951 | 109,165 | 25.8% |
| Acute Otitis Media | 18,893 | 22,888 | 19,295 | 61,076 | 14.4% |
| Sinusitis | 18,384 | 17,220 | 17,715 | 53,319 | 12.6% |
| Impetigo | 6,816 | 6,740 | 7,191 | 20,747 | 4.9% |
| Infected Insect Bites | 3,412 | 4,180 | 6,099 | 13,691 | 3.2% |
| Shingles | 4,078 | 4,069 | 4,470 | 12,617 | 3% |
| Total | 125,275 | 144,389 | 153,646 | 423,310 |
Janet Morrison, chief executive of Community Pharmacy England (CPE) said that it was 'encouraging to see how many patients are already being helped by Pharmacy First', but there was 'still more work to be done to drive people to the service'.
And she said the negotiator was still very concerned about the monthly threshold levels for clinical pathway consultations.
She told The Pharmacist: 'Community pharmacies have done an amazing job providing Pharmacy First, despite the very tight implementation timeline and early battles with IT issues.
'Pharmacy owners have overcome those challenges, but their ability to pass the monthly threshold levels for clinical pathways consultations remains a major ongoing concern.
'We continue to push DHSC and NHS England to provide more support to ensure referrals are made to the service and undertake significantly more advertising to the public.
'Discussions with the Department and NHS England are ongoing but, with the August threshold increase now looming, we have escalated our concerns and requested that the Minister intervenes as a matter of urgency.
'The monthly payments are critical for pharmacy businesses, and it is completely unreasonable to penalise them financially for the NHS' failure to drive public and general practice behaviour changes.'
Malcolm Harrison, chief executive of the Company Chemists' Association (CCA), said the data showed that pharmacy teams 'have been working tirelessly to deliver the Pharmacy First service'.
'Patients continue to respond well to the service which has provided them an additional access route to same day NHS care.
'The growing month-on-month average number of consultations is especially encouraging, but we know there is scope for it to grow further.'
He said that there was 'significant variance in implementation regionally', and highlighted the need for continued funding for the service and increased awareness from the general public.
Dr Leyla Hannbeck, chief executive of the Independent Pharmacies Association (IPA) commented that 'challenges' stemmed from the fact that 'GP referrals are low'.
'We have always been clear that where services are dependent on GP referrals unfortunately we often see issues and unnecessary stress for pharmacies,' she told The Pharmacist.
And Brendon Jiang, vice-chair of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) England Pharmacy Board, said that 'a number of factors' were needed to make 'any new service a success', including 'IT infrastructure, local relationships, and streaming the referrals process'.
'We have seen a really positive response to Pharmacy First and local pharmacy leaders must now be given the resources to help drive implementation.
'It is vital this new service gets the support it needs to maximise the benefits for patients and better manage demand across the NHS,' he said.
In August, the minimum monthly thresholds for clinical pathway consultations increase from 10 to 20.
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