
Mims Davies MP shares new powers for dental and pharmacy staff to free up appointments, with the aim of streamlining processes within dental and pharmacy settings and improve patient experiences.
Patients will have faster, simpler and fairer access to primary care as the government gives new powers to pharmacy technicians, dental hygienists and dental therapists to supply and administer medicines, Primary Care Minister Andrea Leadsom announced today.
The move follows two public consultations run by the government, which found widespread support for giving new powers to these staff to cut bureaucracy and support more efficient patient care.
Dental hygienists and therapists will be able to give patients certain types of medicines – including pain relief and fluoride – without sign off from a dentist. Pharmacy technicians will now be able to administer and supply specified medicines to certain groups of patients, without those patients having to see a prescriber. These changes will potentially enable pharmacy technicians to undertake tasks like administering vaccinations and providing consultations under Pharmacy First.
The move will also free up pharmacists’ and dentists’ time, allowing them to deliver more patient-facing clinical services and improving access to primary care services for patients.
Today’s announcement is part of the latest series of measures the government has brought forward to cut waiting lists and improve access to primary care, which includes the publication of the Dental Recovery Plan, which aims to free up 2.5 million more appointments this year, and the expansion of the Pharmacy First scheme, which enables pharmacists to treat seven common conditions, and will free up to 10 million GP appointments per year.
There are currently over 25,500 pharmacy technicians working in pharmacies across England, Scotland and Wales, while there are 9,733 dental hygienists and 6,198 dental therapists currently registered with the General Dental Council in the UK.
Mims Davies MP said:
"New powers are being introduced for our hard-working dental and pharmacy staff to free up crucial appointments.
Today's announcement is with the aim of streamlining processes within dental and pharmacy settings and improve patient experiences, which is very much needed, especially here in Mid Sussex.
I am continually hearing from my constituents how hard it is for them to obtain dental appointments and no one should be sitting in pain unable to see a dentist.
I want to ensure my constituents have faster, simpler and fairer access to the care they need, when they need it – and giving these powers to pharmacy technicians, dental therapists and hygienists will do just that."