6 million hours of A&E time taken up by people with minor ailments such as colds
See NHS list of conditions you can now get a quick consultation for at your local pharmacy amid warnings A&Es are being overwhelmed
Six million hours of time in A&E is being taken up by patients who could be treated at their local chemist.
This includes patients going to A&E with blocked noses, common colds, acne and requesting routine medication. In England 325,000 people visited A&E with a sore throat or a cold, costing the NHS £44 million that year alone. Some 62,000 people visited A&E with nose bleeds, 18,000 with blocked noses, 40,000 with eczema and 1,000 attended with acne. Henry Gregg, chief executive of the National Pharmacy Association said: 'Of course people with serious injuries should go to A&E but it should be a place for emergencies not the first place to go when faced with a minor ailment.
'Our analysis clearly shows a substantial number of visits to A&E could be better managed in a local pharmacy. This would be more convenient for patients, who could be treated in minutes on their doorstep and save substantial time and money in one of the busiest parts of our NHS.'
NHS England is trying to pay pharmacists to do more as the Government pushes for the health service to treat people closer to their homes. Commissioning pharmacies to care for more ailments could also reduce the burden on overstretched GPs.
The NHS Pharmacy First scheme means people can now be seen there for several common ailments; earache, sore throats, sinusitis, shingles, impetigo, urinary tract infections and infected insect bites and stings.
But new analysis shows people are still turning up in A&E for these conditions. This included 18,000 patients with infected insect bites and 196,000 urinary tract infections.
The NPA is calling for much greater awareness of Pharmacy First to encourage greater usage of chemists as a first port of call for certain health conditions. It is also calling on the UK Government to include additional conditions in England, such as constipation, diarrhoea and certain bacterial skin infections, to bring it into line with the Scottish government which runs the NHS there. It comes a week before the launch of the Ten Year Health Plan.
Henry Gregg added: 'The Government has a once in a generation opportunity to use the Ten Year Plan to turbo charge the role of community pharmacies who, properly funded, have a vital part to play in creating a neighbourhood health service.
'Investment in more clinical services in pharmacies will not only help to end the 8am scramble for a GP appointment but also help get patients out of hospitals and into the community.
'Pharmacies still face considerable funding pressures which need resolving and investment in them is key if the government are to shift care to people's local communities.'
Professor Julian Redhead, NHS England clinical director for emergency care, said: 'The upcoming 10-Year Health Plan will see a shift of care from hospital to the community and we want the public to be aware of all the services available, so they don't always feel they have to go to A&E.
'Unless it's an emergency, your first port of call should always be calling NHS 111 or using 111 online, which can direct you to the most appropriate place – whether that be your local pharmacy, a walk-in centre, or clinical self-help advice.
'By ensuring everyone is using the right service for them, more people will be seen faster in the most appropriate place, and importantly vital life-saving A&E services will be kept for those patients who need it the most.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
North Wales Chronicle
24 minutes ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Elderly forced out of Gwynedd communities amid care stand-off
Kevin Edwards, managing director at the Meddyg Care Group, claimed a health board is refusing to cover the 'true cost' of services provided at his care homes in Porthmadog and Criccieth, meaning people are going to homes further afield. However, Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB) has insisted that it is 'committed' to providing care for people across North Wales 'as close to home as is clinically safe'. It also argued that it provides many care packages 'well beyond' its core funding rates based on clinical need. Mr Edwards claimed: 'Because we won't accept their base cost, they are not recommending our homes to Gwynedd families.' He claimed this meant some were ending up in homes far from their communities, and the support of their friends and relatives. The health board has responded by saying it is not legally allowed to recommend which homes people choose. He pointed to the difference between what care homes in rural Gwynedd needed, and the fee the health board was willing to pay, was between £40 and £80 per week per resident. 'NHS care should be free to people who need it in their local area, but people are being forced out of the area because homes in rural Gwynedd will not accept the basic fee BCUHB is prepared to pay,' he said. He added that his home provided care through the medium of Welsh but added if people go further afield that may not be the case. 'BCUHB do the costings on their fee, in my view, on the back of a fag packet,' he said and urged the board to adopt a toolkit used to set care funding fees, called CareCubed. 'How can our costs in a rural setting be the same as a home in an urban setting, somewhere in the middle of Rhyl, Llandudno, or Wrexham for instance?' He added. Mario Kreft MBE, chair of social care champions Care Forum Wales, said: 'One of the most important things for families is the location of the home where their loved ones will be living. 'The vast majority of people choose a care home in a community where they want to be in, it's so important. 'This issue highlights what we are facing in North Wales, and that's a health board which has been promising methodology for more than a decade. 'They should be meeting government guidance on this, it's outrageous that they are not.' He added it caused 'further anxiety' to future residents and families, delaying hospital discharges, and saw people taken to parts of the country they don't want to be in, and highlighted a north-south divide over fees. Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board's Chief Operating Officer Tehmeena Ajmal said: 'We are committed to providing care for people across North Wales as close to home as is clinically safe. 'We understand that these are challenging times for everyone, and we must ensure that our resources are used fairly and appropriately for all. 'For people who are eligible for NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC), each person receives an individual assessment. Many people are supported with care packages that go well beyond our published core funding rate, based on their clinical needs. 'It's important to note that we are not legally allowed to recommend which care home families should choose. We must remain fair and cannot show preference for one independent provider over another. 'We continue to admit patients into all nursing care homes in Gwynedd. Currently, there are only very small numbers of people in hospitals waiting for placements in EMI (Elderly Mentally Infirm) nursing care homes. 'We are fully committed to making sure people can receive care in the Welsh language, and—where possible—stay close to their communities, families, and friends. 'These are all important factors when we agree on care placements and funding. 'As a region, we have reviewed a number of fee-setting tools, including CareCubed, which several local authorities have started using. 'We are working closely with them to review and assess this approach.'
Sky News
31 minutes ago
- Sky News
Plans unveiled for NHS funding to be linked to patient feedback
NHS funding could be linked to patient feedback under new plans, with poorly performing services that "don't listen" penalised with less money. As part of the "10 Year Health Plan" to be unveiled next week, a new scheme will be trialled that will see patients asked to rate the service they received - and if they feel it should get a funding boost or not. It will be introduced first for services that have a track record of very poor performance and where there is evidence of patients "not being listened to", the government said. This will create a "powerful incentive for services to listen to feedback and improve patients' experience", it added. Sky News understands that it will not mean bonuses or pay increases for the best performing staff. NHS payment mechanisms will also be reformed to reward services that keep patients out of hospital as part of a new 'Year of Care Payments' initiative and the government's wider plan for change. 2:04 Speaking to The Times, chief executive of the NHS Confederation Matthew Taylor expressed concerns about the trial. He told the newspaper: "Patient experience is determined by far more than their individual interaction with the clinician and so, unless this is very carefully designed and evaluated, there is a risk that providers could be penalised for more systemic issues, such as constraints around staffing or estates, that are beyond their immediate control to fix." He said that NHS leaders would be keen to "understand more about the proposal", because elements were "concerning". Health Secretary Wes Streeting said: "We will reward great patient care, so patient experience and clinical excellence are met with extra cash. These reforms are key to keeping people healthy and out of hospital, and to making the NHS sustainable for the long-term as part of the Plan for Change." In the raft of announcements in the 10 Year Health Plan, the government has said 201 bodies responsible for overseeing and running parts of the NHS in England will be scrapped. These include Healthwatch England, set up in 2012 to speak out on behalf of NHS and social care patients, the National Guardian's Office, created in 2015 to support NHS whistleblowers, and the Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB). Elsewhere, the new head of NHS England Sir Jim Mackey said key parts of the NHS appear "built to keep the public away because it's an inconvenience". "We've made it really hard, and we've probably all been on the end of it," he told the Daily Telegraph.
The Independent
38 minutes ago
- The Independent
‘Cervical cancer has affected generations of my family - NHS changes mean women like me could be missed out'
A woman whose grandmother and mother both had cervical cancer has called for the reversal of recent changes lengthening the intervals between life-saving screenings. Gemma Barley, 34, had to undergo a biopsy in January 2022 after her regular three-year check-up found abnormal cells in her cervix - despite her previous screening being completely clear. She fears that if she had been subject to new NHS England rules - which have lengthened the time between check-ups to five years - the outcome could have been worse. 'After a regular smear check-up in 2022 I got a letter to say we've found something abnormal in your smear and told I needed a biopsy,' the mother-of-one said. 'It was like my full life had flashed before my eyes. I thought my son was going to be left without a mum. It was horrifying.' Cervical cancer has affected Ms Barley's family for generations. She lost her grandmother to the disease aged 54, just three months after being diagnosed in 2004. Her mother was also diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2018 and had to undergo a hysterectomy to mitigate the risks of the disease. Ms Barley waited four weeks for her results - which said the cells were not cancerous. But the psychology graduate said the experience proves how quickly things can change, and fears recent changes to screenings for cervical cancer could 'put women's lives at risk'. Women aged 25 to 49 who test negative for human papillomavirus (HPV) will now be invited to cervical screening every five years instead of every three, under new NHS guidelines. According to Cancer UK, nearly all cases of cervical cancer are caused by HPV. Most of the time HPV is cleared from the body by itself, but some types can cause cancer if they stay in the body for a long time so require extra monitoring. After seeing the planned changes, Ms Barley started a petition to have them reversed and said: 'I was really angry when I saw the changes. Because of my first-hand experience, it petrified me. 'My first smear was fine, and I'd seen no significant changes in my life since then. But then my second smear found abnormalities. That's how quickly that could change - and yet they're happy to extend it by a further two years.' The change, set to take effect next month in England, follows recommendations from the UK National Screening Committee. According to analysis from King's College London, extending the screening interval to five years for HPV-negative women is just as safe as the current three-year interval, with a similar rate of cancer detection. An NHS England spokesperson said: 'We recognise that changes to cervical screening can seem worrying but want to reassure everyone that this new approach is based on robust scientific evidence and an expert recommendation from the UK National Screening Committee. 'The NHS cervical screening programme tests for HPV and uses a better and more accurate test than before. This means if you test negative for HPV, you don't need to be screened as often as your risk of developing cervical cancer is very low. If you test positive for HPV, we'll monitor you more closely with additional tests and follow-up appointments. 'This personalised approach ensures everyone receives the right level of screening based on their individual risk factors, providing better protection while reducing unnecessary procedures.' A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: 'These changes are based on robust scientific evidence and an expert recommendation from the UK National Screening Committee. 'The NHS cervical screening programme tests for HPV which is a more accurate test than the old cytology (smear) test, therefore intervals for those not at high risk can be safely extended from three to five years. 'If you test positive for HPV, you can be assured you will be monitored closely with additional tests and follow-up appointments.'
