Devon Pharmacy First Service.

The purpose of the Devon Pharmacy First Service is to ensure that patients can access self-care advice for the treatment of specific ailments and, where appropriate, can be supplied with a medicine without the need to visit the GP practice, at NHS expense, to treat their ailment.

This provides an alternative location from which patients can seek advice and treatment, rather than seeking treatment via a prescription from their GP, out of hours (OOH) provider, walk-in centre or accident and emergency.

IMPORTANT: NHS Devon currently commissions a local Pharmacy First Service, which differs from the national Pharmacy First Service launched by NHS England on 31 January 2024.

For clarity, the local Devon service covers the following minor ailment only:

• Mild Inflammatory Skin Conditions (bites and stings, mild dermatitis and eczema)

For more information in relation to the nationally commissioned Pharmacy First Service (which incorporates a range of minor illnesses and seven common clinical conditions), please visit the NHS England website.

Please see the following links for relevant documentation for the local service.

Service specification

Hydrocortisone 1% Cream or Ointment in the management of mild inflammatory skin conditions (including insect bites) over 1 year of age (MAS 5)

Contact details

If you should have any questions regarding this service or would like to find out how your pharmacy can become accredited to deliver, please email the medicines optimisation team.