NHS Pharmacy prescriber trial is to be extended in Brinsley
An NHS trial scheme is to be extended a Brinsley pharmacy for another year.
The NHS pharmacy prescriber scheme authorises specially-trained pharmacists to prescribe NHS medicines directly to patients for a range of additional illnesses, without them needing to see their GP.
The scheme will now be extended at three pharmacies in the county, including Brinsley Pharmacy on Brynsmoor Road.
The Community Pharmacy Independent Prescribing Pathfinder Programme started out as a national pilot funded by NHS England, which ended on December 31 last year.
However, due to the success of the scheme and to help alleviate winter pressures, NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire ICB helped fund an extension up to March 31 this year.
And now the pilot has been extended again, until March 31, 2027, as part of a regional scheme at pharmacies across Derbyshire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire and Nottinghamshire.
The new funding for 2026-27 covers 30 NHS consultations per month at each pharmacy and will offer more than 1,000 appointments for patients in Nottinghamshire who previously would have needed to see a GP.
Dr Dave Briggs, executive director of outcomes, NHS Derby and Derbyshire, Lincolnshire and Nottingham and Nottinghamshire ICBs, said: “Community Pharmacy is playing an increasingly important role as a front door to the NHS, utilising the skills of our brilliant pharmacists to deliver patient-centred care much more effectively.
“The ability to prescribe for additional conditions, in addition to the hugely successful Pharmacy First service available at nearly all our community pharmacies, makes treatment more accessible to the public and allows GPs more time to focus on patients with more serious, persistent illnesses.
“Providing greater access to primary care in convenient high street locations is central to the vision of the NHS 10 year plan’s aim to move care from hospital to community.”
In 2025, participating Nottinghamshire pharmacies provided more than 1,100 independent prescriber consultations.
And in a small patient survey, the service was rated as five out of five by 97 per cent of patients.
The Independent Prescribing Pathfinder Programme is in addition to the Pharmacy First scheme, which is widely available at community pharmacies across Nottingham and Nottinghamshire.
Pharmacy First can provide NHS treatments for seven common conditions without needing to see a GP (some age restrictions apply).
For details about Pharmacy First and NHS services available from pharmacies, visit notts.icb.nhs.uk/your-services/community-pharmacy