Pharmacy First Plus

This page provides some brief information for services users and supporting documentation for pharmacies delivering Pharmacy First Plus.

What is Pharmacy First Plus

NHS Pharmacy First Plus aims to support patients with acute common clinical conditions. It is an extension of the NHS Pharmacy First Service Scotland.

Not all community pharmacies can provide this service as the pharmacist needs to have completed additional training to become an independent prescriber (IP). Please see the map below to check which pharmacies offer Pharmacy First Plus.

Berwickshire

GLM Romanes Pharmacy, Duns

Chirnside Pharmacy, Chirnside

Coldstream Pharmacy, Coldstream

Eildon

Earlston Pharmacy, Earlston

Eildon Pharmacy, Newtown St Boswells

Lauder Pharmacy, Lauder

Teviot and Liddesdale

Lindsay & Gilmour Pharmacy, Hawick

Tweeddale

Right Medicine Pharmacy, Peebles

West Linton Pharmacy, West Linton

More community pharmacies will be coming on board during the next few months.

Accessing the Service

Check with the pharmacies listed above if the service is available at the time. Some of the pharmacies will only be able to provide the service at certain times, for example, when the pharmacist with the IP qualification is on duty.

The IP pharmacist will assess and treat conditions which are within their level of expertise/specialism which is why the service may differ at different times. A telephone call ahead of your visit to the community pharmacy would be beneficial to see if the IP pharmacist can help you and then a face to face consultation will take place in the community pharmacy when you arrive.

Common clinical conditions that can be treated include (but not limited to)

Urinary tract infections
Respiratory infections
Ear, nose and throat
Dermatological conditions
Allergies
Eye infections

Supporting documentation for pharmacies delivering Pharmacy First Plus

Administration

Prescription pads are available for Common Clinical Conditions. Please complete the NHS Borders - Pharmacist Registration - Common Clinical Conditions form and return to the contact in the form. A prescriber code will be issued to you and prescription pads will be ordered.

Approval to Practice Documentation

To ensure clinical and information governance, NHS Borders has a responsibility to confirm training is completed and facilitate delivery of the service. Approval to practice documentation must be completed 12 monthly.

Care Navigation

This guide provides IP pharmacists with resources to help patients be seen by the right person, at the right place and, at the right time.

Peer Review

Informal peer review sessions are held quarterly to share best practice and experiences of delivering Pharmacy First Plus. Pharmacists delivering the service and those in training for their IP qualification are welcome to attend. For more information, please contact: communitypharmacy.team@borders.scot.nhs.uk

Prescribing Data

Community Pharmacist Independent Prescriber (CPIP) prescribing data reports are produced monthly. This data is anonymised and shared with all CPIPs to allow comparisons of prescribing. Data is also available for each CPIP to show: number of items per month; GIC per month; average cost of item per month; compared to the NHSB average. For more information, please contact: communitypharmacy.team@borders.scot.nhs.uk

Teach and Treat

Teach and Treat hubs have been established throughout Scotland to provide ongoing training for IPs. All IPs are encouraged and will receive payment for attending sessions. For more information, please contact: communitypharmacy.team@borders.scot.nhs.uk