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NHS Pharmacy First Scotland
NHS Pharmacy First Scotland allows community pharmacies to give people expert help in treating common clinical conditions. Pharmacy teams offer advice, treatment, or referral to other healthcare teams if required.
What is Pharmacy First Scotland?
NHS Pharmacy First Scotland is a service that allows community pharmacies to provide expert assistance in treating conditions such as sore throats, earaches, and cold sores, as well as common clinical conditions like urinary tract infections (UTIs). Pharmacy teams offer advice, treatment, or referral to other healthcare professionals if necessary.
This service helps people access the appropriate care in the right location, eliminating the need to visit their GP practice or local Accident and Emergency Department for non-urgent treatment.
The NHS Pharmacy First Scotland Service approved list of products has been updated as of 1st of April 2024.
This Circular advises Health Boards and community pharmacy contractors of updated Patient Group Directions (PGDs) that are to be implemented for the treatment of shingles and skin infections under NHS Pharmacy First Scotland.
We have been working with Scottish Government and NHS colleagues on trying to capture Pharmacy First Plus prescribing, advice and referrals data to better evidence the great work being done out in the network – at the moment, this cannot be separated out from standard Pharmacy First activity.
As some of you may be aware, NHS England are due to launch the NHS Pharmacy First service in English community pharmacies on 31st of January 2024.
Each local NHS Health Board has the ability to develop bespoke local pharmacy services to suit the needs of local communities and patients
This Circular provides updated guidance aimed at both community optometry and community pharmacy teams and an updated referral form for the assessment and treatment of minor eye conditions.
The NHS Pharmacy First Scotland service has an annualised pool of £30.800m. The service will remunerate contractors for making the service available to their communities (Base element) and for the episodes of care provided in line with service (Activity element).
Circular PCA(P)(2020)16 set out the intention to introduce a combined National Foundation Programme and Independent Prescriber (IP) Career Pathway for community pharmacists.
Patient Group Directions (PGDs) that are to be added to the NHS Pharmacy First Scotland service for the treatment of seasonal allergic rhinitis (hay fever).
This Circular advises Health Boards and community pharmacy contractors of updated Patient Group Directions (PGDs) that are to be implemented for the treatment of urinary tract infections (UTI) and impetigo under NHS Pharmacy First Scotland.
As part of a move to a regional formulary review process in the East of Scotland, both NHS Lothian and NHS Borders will very shortly inform contractors that the dose of Flucloxacillin permitted
Our colleagues in Primary Care have highlighted the attached website as a source of information for professionals and patients which you may find useful in your practice, and Pharmacy First and First Plus in particular.
Circular PCA(P)(2021)5 set out the arrangements for the settlement for pharmaceutical services for the period 2020-21, including for NHS Pharmacy First Scotland.
Since its launch in the midst of the pandemic, you and your teams have supported the people of Scotland with their minor health conditions over 2 million times!
With the Revised List of Approved List Products (PCA (P) (2021) 14) Circular, from 1st October 2021
This Circular encloses a revised Approved List of Products for the NHS Pharmacy First Scotland service, which will come into force from 1st October 2021.
With the changes to the payment structure for both the Gluten Free Food Service and Unscheduled Care as of the 2021-22 financial framework.
Circular PCA(P)(2021)07 advises that Patient Group Directions (PGDs) supporting two further common clinical conditions will be added to the NHS Pharmacy First Scotland service.
This Circular provides information for community optometry teams about the NHS Pharmacy First Scotland (NHS PFS) service. It also provides guidance aimed at both community optometry and community pharmacy teams and a referral form for the assessment and treatment of minor eye conditions.
This circular informs NHS Boards and community pharmacy contractors of the intention to establish a combined National Foundation Programme and Independent Prescriber (IP) Career Pathway for community pharmacists.
On 24 March 2020, Scottish Government announced support to self-isolate to those at a very high risk of severe illness from COVID-19. This includes providing help to access medicines and food supplies. An extension to this shielding period to at least 31 July 2020 was further announced on 8 June 2020.
This circular encloses amendments to the Health Board Additional Pharmaceutical Services (Minor Ailment Service (Scotland) Directions 2016 for the Minor Ailment Service (MAS) in respect of eligibility for the service, which come into effect on 1 April 2020
This Circular advises community pharmacy contractors and NHS Boards of a one-off payment available to community pharmacy contractors to cover the completion of e-learning modules for the roll-out of the new NHS Pharmacy First Scotland service.
Community Pharmacy Scotland is delighted to highlight this report into the ART (Advice, Referral and Treatment) of pharmacy within the community setting.
How Do I Claim Consultation Fees on Pharmacy First?
We have had some enquiries from pharmacy teams asking how to claim Consultation Only for Pharmacy First, and in particular, how to ensure the 3x multiplier is applied to the UTI and Impetigo Claims.
The following will give you the detail – if you need any further information, please contact enquiries@cps.scot
“Standard” NHS PFS consultations (i.e. not involving a PGD)
You use the “MAS” module on your PMR to record your actions (in time, this will be renamed to NHS Pharmacy First Scotland)
The system will perform an eligibility check, searching for a CHI number in the first instance. This will return one of three statuses:
Eligible – you will be able to proceed with recording the consultation
Not eligible – this status will be returned where it is clear that the person is not eligible for the service. Your PMR system will default to discontinuing the consultation, but you will note that there is an override option built into future-proof the service in the event of any unforeseen policy changes.
Unknown – this will happen if there is no CHI found, and you will be asked whether you want to proceed. You should use your knowledge of the eligibility criteria and the patient to decide (e.g. Yes if a member of the travelling community, homeless etc, No if a tourist visiting Scotland). If you do proceed, a dummy CHI (3999999993) and GP code (99999) will be added to the record to allow you to record the interaction and make a claim.
Record the details and outcome of the consultation (advice only, referral or treatment supplied)
Send your claim
Add any further consultation details to the patient’s PMR record as required
Consultations involving a PGD
An eligibility check function is not yet available for these UCF modules, but this may be added in time.
Select the correct UCF module depending on the patient and their condition. You can choose between Impetigo and UTI, and for each of these, there is the option of a module for patients who are registered with a GP in Scotland (UTI – Scot. GP Registered), and one for those who live in Scotland but are not currently registered with a GP (UTI – Scot. Resident, no GP).
You should only ever use this second option where you have not been able to find a CHI number using the tools available to you.
If you are prescribing an item to treat the condition, proceed as you normally would.
If you have provided advice only or have made an onward referral, the next step is where things will differ depending on the PMR system you are using.
You can either select these options as an outcome as you have been able to with MAS consultations for many years, or there will be a temporary workaround that will see you “prescribe” a service claim in the form of a ‘dummy’ item.
For example, in some PMR systems when you give advice only, you would record this by proceeding to prescribe an item, selecting “Pharmacy First: Consultation only” as the item and setting the prescribed quantity to 1.
The same is true of making a claim for a referral, with the relevant prescribable item being listed as “Pharmacy First: Refer to GP”
You then add any further consultation details to the patient’s PMR record as required by the PGD to finish off the consultation.
Details of which PMR systems are employing which claim method for UTI and Impetigo consultations and referrals at the launch of NHS PFS are included below.
Remember: where in place, this workaround is temporary, and only for UTI and Impetigo services. Do not prescribe “Pharmacy First: Consultation only” or “Pharmacy First: Refer to GP” under any other circumstances. We will update this information as PMR functionality develops.
The update is to Section 10 Skin to remove Epimax Ointment and Epimax Paraffin free Ointment from NHS Grampian’s list only.
The NHS Pharmacy First Scotland Service approved list of products has been updated as of 1st of April 2024.
This Circular advises Health Boards and community pharmacy contractors of updated Patient Group Directions (PGDs) that are to be implemented for the treatment of shingles and skin infections under NHS Pharmacy First Scotland.
We have been working with Scottish Government and NHS colleagues on trying to capture Pharmacy First Plus prescribing, advice and referrals data to better evidence the great work being done out in the network – at the moment, this cannot be separated out from standard Pharmacy First activity.
As some of you may be aware, NHS England are due to launch the NHS Pharmacy First service in English community pharmacies on 31st of January 2024.
Each local NHS Health Board has the ability to develop bespoke local pharmacy services to suit the needs of local communities and patients
This Circular provides updated guidance aimed at both community optometry and community pharmacy teams and an updated referral form for the assessment and treatment of minor eye conditions.
The NHS Pharmacy First Scotland service has an annualised pool of £30.800m. The service will remunerate contractors for making the service available to their communities (Base element) and for the episodes of care provided in line with service (Activity element).
Circular PCA(P)(2020)16 set out the intention to introduce a combined National Foundation Programme and Independent Prescriber (IP) Career Pathway for community pharmacists.
Patient Group Directions (PGDs) that are to be added to the NHS Pharmacy First Scotland service for the treatment of seasonal allergic rhinitis (hay fever).
This Circular advises Health Boards and community pharmacy contractors of updated Patient Group Directions (PGDs) that are to be implemented for the treatment of urinary tract infections (UTI) and impetigo under NHS Pharmacy First Scotland.
As part of a move to a regional formulary review process in the East of Scotland, both NHS Lothian and NHS Borders will very shortly inform contractors that the dose of Flucloxacillin permitted
Our colleagues in Primary Care have highlighted the attached website as a source of information for professionals and patients which you may find useful in your practice, and Pharmacy First and First Plus in particular.
Circular PCA(P)(2021)5 set out the arrangements for the settlement for pharmaceutical services for the period 2020-21, including for NHS Pharmacy First Scotland.
Since its launch in the midst of the pandemic, you and your teams have supported the people of Scotland with their minor health conditions over 2 million times!
With the Revised List of Approved List Products (PCA (P) (2021) 14) Circular, from 1st October 2021
This Circular encloses a revised Approved List of Products for the NHS Pharmacy First Scotland service, which will come into force from 1st October 2021.
With the changes to the payment structure for both the Gluten Free Food Service and Unscheduled Care as of the 2021-22 financial framework.
Circular PCA(P)(2021)07 advises that Patient Group Directions (PGDs) supporting two further common clinical conditions will be added to the NHS Pharmacy First Scotland service.
This Circular provides information for community optometry teams about the NHS Pharmacy First Scotland (NHS PFS) service. It also provides guidance aimed at both community optometry and community pharmacy teams and a referral form for the assessment and treatment of minor eye conditions.
This circular informs NHS Boards and community pharmacy contractors of the intention to establish a combined National Foundation Programme and Independent Prescriber (IP) Career Pathway for community pharmacists.
On 24 March 2020, Scottish Government announced support to self-isolate to those at a very high risk of severe illness from COVID-19. This includes providing help to access medicines and food supplies. An extension to this shielding period to at least 31 July 2020 was further announced on 8 June 2020.
This circular encloses amendments to the Health Board Additional Pharmaceutical Services (Minor Ailment Service (Scotland) Directions 2016 for the Minor Ailment Service (MAS) in respect of eligibility for the service, which come into effect on 1 April 2020
This Circular advises community pharmacy contractors and NHS Boards of a one-off payment available to community pharmacy contractors to cover the completion of e-learning modules for the roll-out of the new NHS Pharmacy First Scotland service.
Community Pharmacy Scotland is delighted to highlight this report into the ART (Advice, Referral and Treatment) of pharmacy within the community setting.
This Circular advises Health Boards and community pharmacy contractors of updated Patient Group Directions (PGDs) that are to be implemented for the treatment of shingles and skin infections under NHS Pharmacy First Scotland.
This Circular provides updated guidance aimed at both community optometry and community pharmacy teams and an updated referral form for the assessment and treatment of minor eye conditions.
Patient Group Directions (PGDs) that are to be added to the NHS Pharmacy First Scotland service for the treatment of seasonal allergic rhinitis (hay fever).
This Circular advises Health Boards and community pharmacy contractors of updated Patient Group Directions (PGDs) that are to be implemented for the treatment of urinary tract infections (UTI) and impetigo under NHS Pharmacy First Scotland.
Circular PCA(P)(2021)5 set out the arrangements for the settlement for pharmaceutical services for the period 2020-21, including for NHS Pharmacy First Scotland.
This Circular reminds community pharmacy contractors of the requirements of delivering the NHS Pharmacy First Scotland service
This Circular encloses a revised Approved List of Products for the NHS Pharmacy First Scotland service, which will come into force from 1st October 2021.
The Scottish Government have released circular PCA(P)(2021)09 which advises of changes to the Drug Tariff with respect to remuneration arrangements to regulate the delivery of the remuneration Global Sum for 2020/21.
Circular PCA(P)(2021)07 advises that Patient Group Directions (PGDs) supporting two further common clinical conditions will be added to the NHS Pharmacy First Scotland service.
This Circular provides information for community optometry teams about the NHS Pharmacy First Scotland (NHS PFS) service. It also provides guidance aimed at both community optometry and community pharmacy teams and a referral form for the assessment and treatment of minor eye conditions.
This circular informs NHS Boards and community pharmacy contractors of the intention to establish a combined National Foundation Programme and Independent Prescriber (IP) Career Pathway for community pharmacists.
This circular encloses amendments to the Health Board Additional Pharmaceutical Services (Minor Ailment Service (Scotland) Directions 2016 for the Minor Ailment Service (MAS) in respect of eligibility for the service, which come into effect on 1 April 2020
This Circular advises community pharmacy contractors and NHS Boards of a one-off payment available to community pharmacy contractors to cover the completion of e-learning modules for the roll-out of the new NHS Pharmacy First Scotland service.
⬅️ National Service
Whilst core services must be delivered by all community pharmacies on the pharmaceutical list, the National suite of services is optional. That said, the vast majority of pharmacies in Scotland offer all of these services.
The update is to Section 10 Skin to remove Epimax Ointment and Epimax Paraffin free Ointment from NHS Grampian’s list only.