Pharmacist consultation. 7.1. The pharmacist will conduct a consultation. This will usually be face to face, but may be over the telephone if appropriate. The pharmacist must, using the CPCS IT system, collect information on the patient’s condition and make appropriate records, during the consultation. The pharmacist will assess the patient’s condition using a structured approach to respond to symptoms. Where the pharmacist undertakes a telephone consultation but is unable to collect all of the information they require from the patient or they feel that it is clinically appropriate to see the patient before making a decision on their condition, the pharmacist shall conduct a face-to-face consultation..
7.2. The pharmacist will ensure that any relevant ‘Red Flags’ are recognised and responded to as part of the consultation process with particular attention given to symptoms that might indicate sepsis or meningitis.5 Pharmacists should be able to access the latest information directly from NICE Clinical Knowledge Summaries whilst still with the patient during the consultation.
7.3. If at this stage it is identified that the patient needs to be referred to access higher acuity services, the procedure set out in Section 9 should be followed.
7.4. The pharmacist will identify any concurrent medication or medical conditions, which may affect the treatment of the patient. This can be done through access to SCR and locally held records where available and where appropriate.
7.5. The pharmacist will consider past medical history and current medication to assess appropriateness of any advice given and medicines supplied.
7.6. The pharmacist will provide self-care advice on the management of the low acuity condition.
Pharmacist consultation. 6.1 The pharmacist will conduct a face-to-face consultation in the pharmacy consultation room and MUST use the locally commissioned IT provider template during that consultation. The the locally commissioned IT provider platform MUST be used to collect any additional information from the patient that was not obtained during the telephone conversation with the patient. The pharmacist will assess the patient’s condition using a structured approach to responding to symptoms and using Summary Care Record where appropriate.
6.2 The pharmacist will gain patient consent (tick box) to share the details of the consultation with the patients GP. Patients who do not consent to sharing details with their GP cannot access DMIRS and will be transferred to usual care via referral back to NHS111.
6.3 The pharmacist will ensure that any relevant ‘Red Flags’ are recognised and responded to as part of the consultation process2. The red flags link will be included as a reminder within the IT platform so that pharmacists are able to click on the link and get the latest information directly from NICE Clinical Knowledge Summary whilst still with the patient during the consultation.
6.4 If at this stage it is identified that the patient needs to be referred to access higher acuity services, then the procedure set out in section 8 should be followed.
6.5 The pharmacist will identify any concurrent medication or medical conditions, which may affect the treatment of the patient. Summary Care Record (SCR) access may assist in providing this information.
6.6 The pharmacist will consider past medication supplied for the low acuity condition to assess appropriateness of any advice given.
6.7 The pharmacist will provide self-care advice on the management of the condition.
6.8 The pharmacist will provide a relevant information leaflet about the low acuity condition from a reputable source (an example of which would be NHS Choices or NICE Clinical Knowledge Summaries guides or from xxxxxxx.xx.xx) as required. See Annex A for the consultation process.
