Overview of the NHS Pharmacy First Service
Pharmacy First is an NHS service that allows community pharmacies to assess and treat seven common conditions without the need for a GP appointment. These are:
Sinusitis
Sore throat
Earache (in-person only)
Infected insect bites
Impetigo
Shingles
Uncomplicated UTIs.
Pharmacies can provide clinical advice, supply prescription items where appropriate, or refer the patient to another healthcare professional.
Pharmacies receive a fixed monthly payment and £15 per completed consultation from the programme (not Healthera).
Using Healthera to Manage Pharmacy First
Healthera supports both referred and direct bookings for Pharmacy First, with tools for managing appointments, patient intake and prescriptions. It also works with partners to support requests from a larger pool of patients.
Referred Pharmacy First Appointments
Through partnerships with e-Consult and MyGP, patients can be referred directly to your pharmacy for a Pharmacy First consultation.
For appointments booked via e-Consult, pharmacies will receive:
A pre-screening questionnaire is completed by the patient
You receive key details before the appointment.
This is currently unavailable for appointments booked through MyGP. For these bookings, the pharmacy will see the booking in their calendar as normal.
A £2.25 platform fee per consultation attended is charged by Healthera.
Non-Referred (Direct) Appointments
You can also invite your own patients to book Pharmacy First appointments:
Go to the Calendar tab in Connect
Click ‘Consultation Invite’
Enter the patient’s information and send the invite.
Alternatively, patients can book themselves by:
Clicking ‘Free consultation’ or ‘Consult a pharmacist’ in the Healthera app or website
Visiting your pharmacy’s Plus website.
Patients complete a pre-screening questionnaire and select a time for their appointment. A £0.75 platform fee per appointment applies to this method.
Managing Appointments in Connect
Appointments can be managed from the Calendar tab in your Connect platform.
View appointments in the Calendar
Click into an appointment to access the 'Consultation' tab
Download the pre-screening questionnaire if available
Join video calls directly from your browser (no software needed)
After the consultation, mark the appointment as 'Attended'
Select the outcome: Advice given, Prescription issued, or Referral to GP
If prescribing, enter the product details, exemption status, and fulfilment method
If payment is needed, the patient will receive a payment link
Once payment is completed, the order appears in the Orders tab
Add any notes and click 'Submit' to send a consultation summary to the patient
Orders will not appear in the Orders tab until payment details are submitted by the patient.
If the patient booked via MyGP or your own app listing, they will not complete a Healthera pre-screening questionnaire.
For face-to-face appointments, you can add a video call if needed by clicking ‘Add video call’ in the appointment.
Reducing No-Shows
Patients occasionally miss appointments. We recommend:
Setting expectations about attendance when sending invites
Monitoring frequent no-shows
Using upcoming Q3 features to help reduce non-attendance
Healthera’s Support
Healthera supports your Pharmacy First consultations by:
Sending booking confirmations and reminders to patients
Providing pre-screening questionnaires
Offering payment handling and order fulfilment tools
Supporting your team with account management and technical help
If you need further support, contact your Customer Success Manager or email support@healthera.co.uk.