“But the plan will have to be properly remunerated and cut out any bureaucratic burden because pharmacies are currently struggling to keep their heads above the water and cannot take any additional work without appropriate funding and support.” She said: “We welcome any government plan that would recognise the important role community pharmacies can play in tackling the current challenges facing the NHS. Next week, officials will set out details of measures to boost access to GPs, including the creation of new services at pharmacies to treat problems such as urinary tract infections.įamily doctors have been told they can no longer tell patients to phone back later, with surgeries to be asked to introduce better systems to ensure all patients are sent to the most appropriate place for help.ĭr Leyla Hannbeck, chief executive of the Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies, said pharmacists were willing to provide more help, but could only do so if they were properly reimbursed for any extra work taken on. The Prime Minister first promised the plan in January, when the NHS was in the depths of the worst winter crisis in its history. The package is designed to ensure that those patients who need to see a GP have shorter waits and longer slots.

Mr Sunak’s GP access plan will see “common ailments services” set up at high street pharmacists so more patients can be treated without seeing their family doctor.

On Friday, he also pledged to press ahead on delivering the five priorities he unveiled in the new year, following heavy losses for the Tories at the local elections.īut defeated councillors and worried MPs urged him to go further, blaming the defeat on failure to deliver the benefits of Brexit and fear of uncontrolled housebuilding, as well as problems in the NHS.Īlan Jarrett, the defeated Tory leader of Medway Council in Kent, which fell to Labour, said it was a “very disappointing night” and that the Government had to “get their act together on a number of fronts”.Ĭonservative MPs warned that voters were staying at home, angry at the failure of the Prime Minister to cut taxes. The work builds on measures already under way to give more prescribing powers to pharmacists and to expand GP phone lines to end the “8am scramble” to get a slot. The Prime Minister hopes the scheme, to improve the ailing NHS by freeing up hundreds of thousands of appointments, will lead to a turnaround of Conservative fortunes. Rishi Sunak plans to relaunch his government with a plan to take the pressure off GPs by encouraging pharmacists to treat more common ailments.

Relive gps app