Pharmacies have seen a steady increase in Pharmacy First service (PFS) uptake in England since the service launch at the end of January 2024.

Data covering the period February to December 2024 showed that there had been 1,967,793 consultations of which 1,539,890 or 78.3% had resulted in a medicine being supplied (see Panel).¹

The data also shows that there is a difference in outcomes between the conditions. An average of 93% of impetigo consultations result in a medicine being supplied, compared to around 83-85% for infected insect bites, shingles, sinusitis and uncomplicated UTIs. Acute otitis media and acute sore throat resulted in medicine being supplied in around 70% of consultations.

Consultations increased from an average of 13.7 per pharmacy in the first month to 27.6 in December. Under the March 2025 pharmacy contract terms, pharmacies in England can claim £17 per consultation with an additional payment of £1,000 per month for pharmacies delivering 30 or more consultations. From June a threshold payment of £500 will be available for pharmacies providing 20-29 consultations a month.^2,3,4