The challenge
Access to General Practice and wider primary care services is seen to be a national issue which has been exacerbated by the pandemic. Local Patient experience scores indicate that accessing an appointment is problematic – but the quality of care received once seen was higher than national average. This suggested that access to care was the issue to focus on. However, LLR has a lower rate of GPs per 1,000 population so simply increasing GP capacity was not an option.
The solution
Using clinical audits, conducted by multi-disciplinary professionals across the ICB, we were able to show that approximately 20% of patients were trying to access GP services, when actually they would have been better served by a pharmacist.
LLR chose to be a national front runner for the community pharmacy consultation service which allows GP practices to refer appropriate patients into appointments at community pharmacies.
A significant campaign was conducted across the ICB partners to promote this service and the role of community pharmacies in primary health care, and to change behaviours and patient expectations.
Impact
Over 2,500 patients are now assessed and treated in our community pharmacies, enabling GP services to focus on patients with appropriate clinical needs.