More than 10,000 pharmacies in England can now diagnose and treat patients for several illnesses and health conditions.
As part of what is being described as a “major transformation” in the way the NHS delivers its care, from today (31 January), people in England will be able to get treatment for seven common illnesses and health conditions just by heading down to their local high street pharmacy, all without needing to make an appointment to see a GP or getting a prescription.
More than nine in 10 community pharmacies in England – a massive 10,265 locations in total – will now be offering the “groundbreaking initiative” to patients.
NHS England says it wants to make it “easier” and “more convenient” for people to access care.
Today the NHS is expanding community pharmacy services. You can now go to your local pharmacy for treatment for seven common conditions and they may provide some prescription medicine without you needing to see a GP.
This new scheme – which is part of the NHS and Government’s primary care access recovery plan – is apparently aiming to free up around 10 million GP appointments each year.
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The full list of illnesses which can now be diagnosed and treated by NHS highly-trained pharmacists across England are:
Sinusitis
Sore throat
Earache
Infected insect bite
Impetigo
Shingles
Uncomplicated urinary tract infections in women (under the age of 65)
“GPs are already treating millions more people every month than before the pandemic,” explained Amanda Pritchard, who is the Chief Executive of NHS England, as the scheme begins its national rollout today.
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“But with an ageing population and growing demand, we know the NHS needs to give people more choice and make accessing care as easy as possible.
“People across England rightly value the support they receive from their high street pharmacist, and with eight in 10 living within a 20-minute walk of a pharmacy, and twice as many pharmacies in areas of deprivation, they are the perfect spot to offer people convenient care for common conditions.”
Ms Pritchard called the scheme “great news for patients”, as she added that many pharmacies in England open late into the evening.
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🩺💊 From today, you can get treatment for seven common conditions at most pharmacies without a GP prescription.
Across England, 95% of pharmacies have signed up to offer this expanded service.
— Department of Health and Social Care (@DHSCgovuk) January 31, 2024
The additional powers awarded to pharmacists today comes after more than 5,300 pharmacies in England began being able from December 2023 to offer women the chance to get a supply of the oral contraceptive pill over the counter, again, without needing to see their GP first.
The NHS expects that almost half a million women a year will be receiving their contraception from their high street pharmacist in the future.
It also comes as the Government has made £645 million of new funding available to support the continued expansion of community pharmacy services.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has called today’s change “crucial” for patients in England.
Featured Image – gov.uk
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NHS rolls out new ‘life-extending’ ovarian cancer drug for first time in 20 years
Emily Sergeant
The NHS has approved a new ovarian cancer treatment for the first time in two decades.
From today, hundreds of women with ‘hard-to-treat’ ovarian cancer could benefit from a new life-extending drug on the NHS called mirvetuximab soravtansine, and it will be offered to patients living with whose disease has unfortunately stopped responding to standard chemotherapy treatments, providing them with new hope of extra time to live.
The rollout of the drug on the NHS follows a major global clinical trial involving eight NHS hospitals, which showed that the treatment delayed cancer progression and prolonged survival – with patients living 16.5 months on average compared to 12.8 months with chemotherapy.
One patient said the treatment enabled her to get on with life ‘rather than spending it in bed recovering from the side effects of chemotherapy’.
So, how does it work then?
The NHS has rolled out a new ‘life-extending’ ovarian cancer drug for the first time in 20 years / Credit: rawpixel
Well, the drug combines a ‘homing’ antibody with a cancer-killing medicine – often described by scientists as a ‘biological missile’ or ‘trojan horse’ therapy – and it works by attaching to ovarian cancer cells that have a protein called folate receptor alpha (FRα) on their surface, before releasing a cancer-killing molecule which destroys the cell from within.
The treatment is given intravenously, via a drip, over two to four hours, once every three weeks.
The drug may also have ‘more tolerable’ side effects than traditional chemotherapy, with the treatment aimed more precisely at cancer cells than chemotherapy.
The NHS estimates up to 400 patients in England each year could benefit.
“This represents the most significant breakthrough in NHS treatment for these hard-to-treat ovarian cancers in over two decades, commented Professor Ruth Plummer, who is the NHS’s national clinical lead for cancer drugs.
“We’re delighted it will now offer hundreds of women much-needed hope of precious extra time with their loved ones.
“It is part of a growing wave of more targeted cancer therapies which, by homing in on specific features of cancer cells, are helping us improve patients’ lives.”
Featured Image – Stephen Andrews (via Unsplash)
News
Count Binface says he’ll put a £2 price cap on Wigan kebabs if he wins the Makerfield by-election
Emily Sergeant
Count Binface is officially running in the Makerfield by-election and has now shared his hilarious manifesto with the public.
Price-capped Wigan kebabs and 99p ice creams, cyclists being forced to ride unicycles if they break the Highway Code, and the renaming of HS2 to ‘FFS1’ are just some of the declarations being made by Makerfield by-election candidate, Count Binface.
In case you’re not up-to-speed on the Makerfield by-election coming up on 18 June – which was called after Labour’s Josh Simons announced he was standing down – there are now a total of 14 hopefuls set to contest the parliamentary seat.
Greater Manchester Mayor, Andy Burnham, is by far the most well-known candidate in the running, alongside other names like Conservative’s Michael Winstanley, Liberal Democrats’ Jake Austin, the Green Party’s Sarah Wakefield, and Reform UK’s Michael Kenyon.
But Burnham is not the only big name… there’s also Count Binface too, of course.
Count Binface – previously known as Lord Buckethead – is the alias of comedian and perennial candidate, Jonathan David Harvey.
He announced his intentions to run for the Makerfield seat last month, before officially publishing his manifesto today (3 June), which includes 20 pledges – some serious, others less so… we presume.
On a more local level to the Makerfield area, if Count Binface wins the by-election, he has pledged to re-phase the traffic lights on Liverpool Road to ease congestion, increase the free parking limit at the Gerard Centre to three hours, and to make Galloways’ Full Monty Bin Lid breakfast the country’s new national dish.
And then on a more comical level – yes, even more comical than a new national dish – this is where you’ll find pledges like making sure there’s WiFi on trains that works and also ‘trains that work’ too, as well as the bringing back of Ceefax teletext for all Greater Manchester residents, and the increasing of points for tries in Rugby League from four to five ‘in line with inflation’.
Oh yeah, and there’s the promise that Count Binface will be the UK’s entrant to Eurovision in 2027, let’s not forget that.
Anyway, like we said, the Makerfield by-election is coming up on 18 June, and you can find out more information about all the candidates on the Wigan Council website here.
Emily Sergeant -
31st January 2024 
