When Another Healthcare Professional Refers into Community Pharmacy

Published: 10/07/24

Referrals into community pharmacy from other healthcare professionals are becoming more frequent as community pharmacy services become more well known. This may result in an increase in recommendations to patients from other healthcare professionals to access care on the NHS Pharmacy First (Scotland) Service. 

Whilst it is important to acknowledge another healthcare professional’s knowledge and expertise, any recommendation or referral related to care or to any medicine, including products on the Approved List and PGDs on the NHS Pharmacy First Service, does not supersede the community pharmacist’s need to undertake a consultation and decide if a treatment is the appropriate clinical action. PGDs must be followed by the community pharmacist undertaking the consultation to determine the correct clinical outcome for each patient.

When these situations present in the community pharmacy, the patient should be advised that to ensure they receive the most appropriate management for their symptoms that a consultation will be undertaken.

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