Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of Think Pharmacy First campaign on helping to encourage people use pharmacies for treatment.

The Pharmacy First advertising campaign has now been run on several occasions. Data collected from the campaign run from November to December 2024 showed an increase in public knowledge that pharmacies can treat ‘Pharmacy First’ conditions, from 71% to 79%, and trust in the advice given by the pharmacy team increased from 61% to 70%. Public intention to use the pharmacy if they experienced any of the Pharmacy First conditions increased from 32% to 37%.

This positive shift in people’s attitudes is reflected through an increased use of the Pharmacy First service. There were 198,794 completed clinical pathways in October 2024, the month before the advertising campaign. This increased to 259,323 completed clinical pathways during December 2024.

A second public advertising campaign on Pharmacy First ran from 20 October 2025 to 4 January 2026. Evaluation of this most recent campaign is underway.