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NHS Hampshire and the Isle of Wight (NHS HIW) has said pharmacists across its region are “seeing and treating more patients than ever before” as it launches a campaign to increase public awareness of different health professionals working in general practice.

NHS HIW said its ‘It Takes a Team’ campaign will focus on different people working in practices as part of the additional roles reimbursement scheme, starting this month with ‘clinical’ pharmacists.

Last week, NHS England said it would increase the amount of money primary care networks spend on recruiting staff including pharmacists and pharmacy technicians through ARRS.

Launching its 12-month PR drive, which will help the public understand the roles GP pharmacists play, including carrying out medicines reviews for patients with long-term conditions, NHS HIW said GP pharmacists and community pharmacists treat more than 14,000 patients each month.

It also said over 160,000 people have used Pharmacy First since its launch in January 2024.

Ricky Sharma, a pharmacist working at a practice in Southampton and independent prescriber, said: “In my daily job, I focus on improving patients' medication therapy and prescribing for cardiovascular conditions.

“I collaborate closely with the GPs and other healthcare professionals at the practice and this teamwork helps ensure that the medications we prescribe leads to the best health outcomes for our patients.”

NHS HIW’s community pharmacy clinical integration lead Hinal Patel said GPs in the area “are busier than ever before” and were seeing “record numbers of patients each month”.

“By utilising the advice and knowledge of our pharmacists, it allows GPs to see those patients whose symptoms and illnesses can’t be treated by a pharmacist,” she said.