Summary
Pharmacists are well-placed to reduce avoidable primary care attendances and prevent unnecessary antibiotic use. Community pharmacy teams should be encouraged to develop the skills and expertise to support pharmacists in this area. Members of the team should have the knowledge to triage and recognise which symptoms warrant urgent and non-urgent referral.
They should be able to explain the typical duration of common respiratory infections to patients and educate them on self-help measures and OTC products that can relieve symptoms. This will empower patients to manage similar infections when they arise in the future.
- On the next page there are some pointers on making a planned CPD entry based on the content in this module.