Patients with a sore throat are more than twice as likely to be given antibiotics by a pharmacist through England’s Pharmacy First Scheme compared with a similar scheme in Wales, according to an initial analysis published in the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy.
The study, led by researchers from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and Cardiff University, compared antibiotics supplied through NHS England’s Acute Sore Throat Pharmacy First scheme and Wales’s Sore Throat Test and Treat service, using electronic data recorded by participating pharmacies.
Both schemes allow participating pharmacies to supply prescription-only medicines for acute sore throat after consultation with a community pharmacist. They are intended to enable patients to seek treatment directly from a pharmacy without a GP appointment, to free-up these up for those who may have complex illness. Patients can access both services directly or through a referral from a healthcare professional.
From February to July 2024, a total of 317,864 consultations for acute sore throat were recorded across participating pharmacies in England. In Wales, a total of 27,684 consultations were recorded across participating pharmacies. Following a consultation, patients were more than twice as likely to be supplied with antibiotics in England (72.7%) compared to in Wales (29.9%).
While England and Wales have similar schemes, Wales’s Sore Throat Test and Treat requires pharmacists to confirm the presence of suspected Group A Streptococcus, the most common cause of bacterial sore throat, through a swab test before an antibiotic is supplied.
As swab tests were not completed in England, it’s unclear what proportion of patients had a bacterial throat infection that did require antibiotics to treat.
This early analysis suggests that introducing swab testing for acute sore throat in participating pharmacies across England may reduce the supply of unnecessary antibiotics.
BIVDA remain committed to advocating for greater diagnostic testing in pharmacies to reduce the unnecessary prescribing on antibiotics which fuels the ever-growing threat of antimicrobial resistance.
