Pharmacy First: Sore throat – part 2

Introduction

The NHS wants more episodes of care to be completed by community pharmacists as part of its strategy for managing demand in primary care. This is the thinking behind the new Pharmacy First service in England.

Last month’s module looked at assessing patients with sore throat, the latest in our series designed to support pharmacists to deliver common conditions services such as Pharmacy First.   

This module covers the management of sore throat. Drawing on the NICE Sore throat (acute): antimicrobial prescribing guideline [NG84] and CKS acute sore throat guideline, it looks at decision-making regarding OTC medicines but also covers self-care advice and the small number of occasions when a sore throat might benefit from antibiotics. 

The module also deals with communicating with patients or carers about the reasons for any treatment decisions, including pre-empting and responding to concerns when the decision is not to offer an antibiotic.

Contributing authors: Professor Alison Blenkinsopp and Dr Martin Duerden