Pharmacy First (HP321)
Purpose:
This protocol will:
- support care navigators or reception staff in care navigating and signposting
- consistently record care navigation and signposting activity for audit purposes
What does it actually do?
The protocol performs the following functions:
- Allow users to navigate patients safely to "Pharmacy First" options
What does it look like?
Initially the user is presented with the following options:
Screening for Pharmacy first options
Where the user chooses one of the Pharmacy first options, the protocol will go through the NHSE approved pathway to identify those patients who need to be seen by the surgery versus those that can be safetly signposted to the pharmacy. For example - for UTI the following pathway will show:
The patient is first screened for pyelonephritis:
They are screened for pregnancy and immunosuppression:
They are screened for genitourinary symptoms:
Then they are asked about the number of symptoms the patient is experiencing:
Depending on the option chosen, different information is shown:
No symptoms would show this:
and then if answered no, this:
2 or 3 symptoms would show this:
This will ensure that appropriate patients are signposted to pharmacies and that the numbers who are returned for GP practice management are low.
System Dependencies:
The use of this protocol depends on the user being aware of its existence and the practice or PCN choosing to use it as a way of standardising the recording of their signposting activity.
System Trigger
System Trigger: Manual launch
Fitting your practice
Your team need to discuss and be clear about how you are consistently recording care navigation and signposting. Team members who want to use this can add this to their f12 menus, a guide on how to do this is here.
How to get it
This is an Optional Handy Protocol.
Support Information
Development Log
VERSION NUMBER 1.0.0
Published 30/5/24
Communications Log
Exciting Announcement: Introducing our Pharmacy First protocol!
We're thrilled to unveil our latest tool designed to streamline care navigation and signposting within healthcare practices. Meet our Pharmacy First protocol, your go-to resource for guiding patients to the right care pathway. Here's what it can do:
- Safely Navigate patients: Care navigators and reception staff can safely guide patients to appropriate resources, including Pharmacy First, surgery appointment, self care, or other community-based services, based on their specific needs.
- Record activity for audit purposes: With built-in functionality to record care navigation and signposting activity, our protocol ensures consistent documentation for audit purposes, enhancing accountability and transparency.
Ready to streamline your care navigation processes and enhance patient outcomes? Discover the power of our Pharmacy First protocol today!