Commenting on the adding of five new conditions to the Pharmacy First scheme in England, including migraines and acne, Henry Gregg, Chief Executive of the National Pharmacy Association said:
"This is a really significant announcement and it is great to see patients being able to be treated for more conditions on their doorstep at their local pharmacy, without having to see a GP.
"We want to see the government turbo charge the role of pharmacies, including rolling out more prescribing services to patients on the NHS.
"In Scotland, patients can be treated for 27 different conditions at their pharmacy, with a third of the population accessing this service last year, many steps ahead of England.
"Pharmacies are still under significant financial pressures and this just shows why the Government should go much further and invest in our pharmacy network that has the power to transform people’s experience of everyday health issues.
"We need more details about how this scheme will work in practice, including how new IT schemes will function and at the moment only a small number of pharmacies will be taking part.
"This new prescribing programme won’t be able to be scaled up to meet the government's ambitions without increasing the funding levels made available for it first."
