Exploring the effect of Pharmacy First on GP appointment characteristics after the introduction of Pharmacy First and regional variation

Background The Pharmacy First Scheme, introduced on 31 January 2024 as part of NHS England’s Primary Care Recovery Plan, allows community pharmacies to treat seven common minor ailments. Pharmacy First aimed to ease pressures on primary care and improve accessibility as over 80% of people live within 20-minute walking distance of a community pharmacy. Aim This study aimed to evaluate the effect of Pharmacy First on General Practice appointments, particularly within a 2-week or same-day target, and how this varies regionally, by deprivation and urbanity. Method This retrospective descriptive and interrupted time-series analyses used Stata to analyse an open NHS Digital dataset of appointments (January 2022 – November 2024). Deprivation and urbanity measures are derived from the 2022 Health Foundation report. Key measures included time from booking to appointment, and healthcare professional type. Results The results found a significant pre-intervention increase in appointments with limited significant post-intervention trends. Statistically significant decreases occurred in same-day GP appointments in both the most and least deprived 20% of Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) and the least urban 20%. The data showed strong seasonal variation, peaking in autumn, and falling in summer. Conclusion Limited post-intervention data points and pronounced seasonality limit certainty on Pharmacy First’s early impact. These results align with NHS Wales Choose Pharmacy interim reports, perhaps indicating that consistently high appointment demand means available appointments remain filled. Future research could explore appointment reasons and patient demographics. Decreases in same-day GP appointment numbers for less urban areas and the most and least deprived areas could be a focus for promotion.