Chemists to be given powers to hand out prescriptions for common illnesses to ease pressure on GPs

Chemists will be given new powers to hand out prescriptions for the most common ailments under plans to ease the pressure on GPs.

Rishi Sunak will unveil plans today to free up 15 million GP appointments by making it easier for patients to get the help they need on the high street.

It will mean millions with minor infections and illnesses will be able to get prescription medicines direct without seeing a doctor first.

The plan, which will take effect by the winter, will enable pharmacists to prescribe antibiotics and antiviral drugs for conditions including ear infections, sore throats, sinusitis, shingles and minor urine infections.

In a victory for the Mail’s Save Our Local Pharmacies campaign, ministers have agreed an extra £645million to expand community pharmacy services over the next two years.

Rishi Sunak will unveil plans today to free up 15 million GP appointments by making it easier for patients to get the help they need on the high street

The cash is less than had been hoped for by a sector which is losing one pharmacy every five days.

But it was welcomed as a step forward by industry leaders last night. Thorrun Govind, chairman of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society in England, said the plans were a ‘real game-changer’ for patients.

Mr Sunak, whose mother ran a pharmacy in Southampton, said: ‘We will end the 8am rush and expand the services offered by pharmacies, meaning patients can get their medication quickly.

‘This will relieve pressure on our hard-working GPs by freeing up 15 million appointments, and end the all-too-stressful wait on the end of the phone for patients.’

The expansion of pharmacy services is part of a wider ‘primary care recovery plan’ designed to restore public satisfaction with GP services after the pandemic.

Other measures include investing £240million in new phone systems to cut waiting times, allowing some patients to access NHS services such as physiotherapy without a GP referral, and allowing most to access their health records and test results online.

A typical GP practice receives more than 100 calls in the first hour of a Monday morning, with many patients giving up before they can get through.

Ministers believe the package could free up 15 million GP appointments a year, 4.5 per cent of the 340 million total.

Industry experts gave the new plans a cautious welcome. Janet Morrison, chief of the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee, said pharmacies were ‘ideally placed to do more to help patients’ – but warned that more money was ‘critical’. She added: ‘Getting this money into pharmacies quickly is critical when many are battling for survival.’