New scheme means more services now available at local pharmacies across Nottinghamshire

The agreement covers a variety of minor illnesses including urinary tract infections and some skin infections.

More than 400 community pharmacists in the East Midlands have signed the agreement – called the extended care service – and completed the necessary training requirements.

Patients needing clinical advice can check if their local pharmacist is taking part in extended care online at bit.ly/45pBAoR

The majority of pharmacists involved in the service are able to treat women aged between 16 and 65 with simple UTIs as well as children aged from three months to two years who present with acute bacterial conjunctivitis.

Pharmacists can also treat skin infections including impetigo, infected eczema and infected insect bites.

Some pharmacists can now also treat otitis media in children aged from three months to 16 years.

This is an infection in the middle ear and particularly common in young children.

There have been almost 3,000 consultations to the service since it launched in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire in early 2021.

Pharmacists can supply medicines to treat the conditions, or recommend the purchase of over the counter medicines.

If people are exempt from paying for prescriptions, they won’t have to pay for medicines that would normally be prescribed by the GP.

One pharmacist commented that being part of the scheme also allowed her to promote the NHS hypertension case-finding service and NHS contraception services to relevant people who used the extended care service.

Lucy Dadge, NHS Nottinghamshire director of integration, said: “This is a massive step forward in making treatment more accessible for people in local surroundings and empowering pharmacists to offer clinical care to their communities.

“We have been delighted with the number of community pharmacists who have taken up the extended services agreement.

"Pharmacists are already carrying out clinical checks such as blood pressure and vaccinations for flu and Covid-19. People can also use community pharmacists to manage their oral contraceptives, which means they don’t need to visit their GP.”