Plans to run a ‘test and treat’ service for sore throat in pharmacies in England are based on flimsy evidence and “heroic assumptions” about the potential impact on GP appointments, according to an editorial to be published in this month’s Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin.

The editorial questions whether NHS Englan's plans meet the criteria for its National Innovation Accelerator programme, given that the scheme was evaluated in just 367 people from 35 Boots pharmacies. And it describes NHSE's estimates of a consequent 800,000 reduction in GP sore throat appointments and £34m savings for the NHS as "heroic assumptions". 

The DTB article said: “The small-scale evaluation did not include a comparison of the rate of antibiotic provision with usual care, did not assess outcomes of treatment, did not review complication rates and did not address issues of funding, cost-effectiveness, or scalability.” It continues. “It did not provide evidence that a test and treat service in community pharmacies would achieve a reduction in GP consultations, a reduction in antibiotic prescribing, an improvement in outcomes for patients or a financial saving.”

And as only 6 per cent of patients with a sore throat make a GP appointment, “it is not clear what would happen if the other 94 per cent were to access this service". The article concludes: “When it comes to devising a national service for such a common self-limiting condition, let’s base it on evidence.”