NHS ENT Assessment Service

The service aims to ensure that patients can access an ENT examination in a community pharmacy to guide self-care advice for treating ENT conditions, which may include purchasing or supplying an Over-The-Counter (OTC) treatment.

This service provides an alternative location from which patients can seek advice and treatment, rather than a prescription from their GP or out-of-hours (OOH) provider, walk-in centre or accident and emergency.

This service can be provided to patients either referred through the Community Pharmacist Consultation Service(CPCS) or presenting at the pharmacy with a relevant ENT condition.

The patient (or relevant parent or guardian) must:

• Attend a consultation under this service; for children under 16 years, a parent or guardian must also be in attendance.

• Be at least one year old.

• Give consent for details of the consultation to be shared with their GP (note; the service may still be provided for a patient who is not registered with a GP).

The following inclusion criteria must apply for patients to be eligible for the service:

For patients Presenting to the Pharmacy (Walk-Ins),

They will be eligible for this service if they meet any one of the following criteria AND the pharmacist assesses that an ENT examination is required to aid diagnosis:

• Earache for longer than three days

• Discharge from the ear

• Blocked ear

• Hearing loss (where the patient reports hearing loss is gradually getting worse or has had treatment for an ear infection or wax and hearing has not returned)

• Nasal blockage (where the patient has had symptoms for longer than three days or reports symptoms affecting their quality of life)

• Sore throat AND one or more of the following:

  • Where symptoms have not improved after a week (most patients should be advised self-management for up to 7 days)

  • The patient gets frequent sore throats

  • The patient is worried about their sore throat

  • The patient has a very high temperature or feels hot and shivery

  • Any ENT-type condition

For Patients Referred via CPCS

Any ENT-type condition where the pharmacist assesses that an ENT examination is required to aid diagnosis and treatment.

The appointment will last about 15 minutes. During the consultation, our trained ENT specialist will:

• Provide self-care advice to manage the condition (including what to do if symptoms persist or worsen).

• Recommend the purchase of an OTC treatment.

• Where the condition requires antibiotics, the pharmacist will escalate the patient accordingly.

• You will receive a follow-up call from the pharmacist 3-5 days after the initial consultation to check how you are getting on and answer any questions you may have.