In Health & NHS news

Follow this topic

Bookmark

Record learning outcomes

National Pharmacy Association chair Olivier Picard has reminded the public that women can be “safely treated” in community pharmacies for urinary tract infections after publication today of a Government report which warns the condition cost hospitals in England £604 million in 2023 to 2024.

Picard (Picard) was reacting to data released by the UK Health Security Agency, taken from the Hospital Episode Statistics database, revealing there were nearly 200,000 UTI-related patients during those two years which resulted in 1.2 million bed days at an average of six bed days per infection.

The UKHSA said one-third of those patients were in hospital for less than a day which indicated “that other treatment pathways could be considered for these patients”.

Picard insisted patients should turn to Pharmacy First which offers treatment for UTIs in women aged 16 to 64 as one of the seven conditions under the scheme.

"It's clear from this research that certain simple changes to behaviour can help prevent UTIs,” he said.

“However, if people have noticed the early symptoms of an UTI, which include things such a burning sensation when urinating or needing the toilet more frequently than normal, they can be quickly and safely treated in their local pharmacy without having to visit their GP or A&E under the Pharmacy First scheme.

“This can prevent much more serious health complications from leaving UTIs untreated.”

Picard said NPA research revealed at least six million hours in A&E last year was taken up by patients “with issues that could have been treated in a community pharmacy” which costs the NHS £250 million annually.

The UKHSA said its findings reflected “the well documented burden of UTIs on older people and women”, drawing on hospital data which highlighted 52.7 per cent of admissions were patients aged over 70 and 61.8 per cent were female.

Females were almost five times more likely to need hospital treatment for a UTI in the under-50 age group, although the UKHSA said “this levelled out in age groups over 50”.

It also said the Covid pandemic may have driven hospital admissions for the condition to their lowest level between 2020 and 2021 although admissions increased by nine per cent in 2023-24 compared with the previous year.