Pharmacy teams prevented the inappropriate supply of over 15,000 prescribed items, saving the NHS around £300,000 a week, according to a national audit by Pharmacy Voice.

The audit of over 3,000 pharmacies and more than 150,000 patients over a two-week period found that one in every five patients had some sort of query with their prescription. And four out of five of these were addressed by the pharmacist, most often by discussing the medication with the patient or checking the patient’s medication record. More than 10 per cent of repeat medications were delivered to patients at their home.

“Community pharmacies are increasingly finding these valuable services being put under scrutiny and inappropriate restriction by some CCGs,” said Rob Darracott, PV chief executive. “The timely publication of this audit provides pharmacy teams with real evidence to demonstrate the value that these services provide.”