Before heading back to Westminster I popped into Shenstone Pharmacy to get an update on how the Pharmacy First service is working.
Pharmacy First enables community pharmacists to supply prescription-only medicines, including antibiotics and antivirals where clinically appropriate, to treat seven common health conditions without the need to visit a GP.
The seven common conditions are:
Sinusitis
Sore throat
Earache
Infected insect bite
Impetigo (a bacterial skin infection)
Shingles
Uncomplicated urinary tract infections in women.
Local people have been making good use of the new service, but Pharmacy Superintendent, Sandeep Dhami, tells me that pharmacists could do much more if the list of common conditions was expanded.
I will be contacting the Health Minister to share Sandeep's suggestions for expanding and improving the service.
In the meantime, I was grateful to Tammy and Louise for explaining how the new service has been able to support local people people to get the treatment they need, quickly and easily.