This report describes the changes that Birmingham and Solihull ICB made following Healthwatch Birmingham and Healthwatch Solihull’s 2024 report Access and Barriers to NHS Community Pharmacies. It explores improvements in pharmacy access, awareness, and consultation quality, including interpreting services. As a result, more people are seen quickly for minor illnesses, easing GP demand and increasing confidence in local pharmacy services.
Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care Board (NHS BSOL) has improved access to community pharmacies for clinical or health-related advice/treatment. This has increased the speed at which people are seen for minor illnesses (e.g. colds) and reduced demand on GPs, enabling them to see more people with complex conditions.
Birmingham NHS BSOL has made changes so that people:
- Have increased awareness of the range of services pharmacies offer.
- Have better access to pharmacy services and are seen quickly for minor illnesses.
- Have a positive experience by ensuring that pharmacy services comply with statutory requirements around availability and quality of consultation room.
- Can access pharmacy services in a way that meets their needs by introducing interpreting services.
Healthwatch Birmingham and Healthwatch Solihull welcome the details of the change made and the continued work being done to ensure that Pharmacy First resources from NHS England are translated as needed. We have had some positive feedback from those that have accessed pharmacies and people seem to be more confident in their local pharmacies for minor illnesses.
To ensure positive progress Healthwatch Birmingham and Healthwatch Solihull will continue to liaise with the ICB. This will include continued discussion on the development of a whole system Primary Care Strategy which includes the important role of community pharmacy in meeting the needs of local people. We will continue listening to the experiences of people seeking or using pharmacies across the two areas. All experiences shared with us will be shared with the ICB to inform continued improvement to pharmacies and Pharmacy First.