ArticleBMJ open quality2020
Impact of a pilot NHS-funded sore throat test and treat service in community pharmacies on provision and quality of patient care.
Article in BMJ open quality, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 24 citations in OpenAlex.
- Tonsillectomy compared with conservative management in patients over 16 years with recurrent sore throat: the NATTINA RCT and economic evaluation.Health technology assessment (Winchester, England) · 2023Trial
- Management of Acute Sore Throat in Community Pharmacies: Insights from a Survey of Italian Pharmacists.Pharmacy (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Point-of-care testing in community pharmacies to improve antimicrobial stewardship in respiratory infections: a scoping review of effectiveness, implementation and cost-effectiveness.JAC-antimicrobial resistance · 2026Review
- Morbidity and patient characteristics on acute presentation with sore throat: a multicentre national audit.Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England · 2026Article
- The 2023 Garrod Lecture: Antimicrobial use and stewardship in primary care: what works, and what next?The Journal of antimicrobial chemotherapy · 2025Article
- Oral Antibacterial Drug Prescribing in Primary Care Out-of-Hours Services: A Scoping Review.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Clinical outcomes following acute sore throat assessment at community pharmacy versus general practice: a retrospective, longitudinal, data linkage study.The Journal of antimicrobial chemotherapy · 2025Article
- A pharmacy-led sore throat test and treat (STTT) service: antigen testing and antibiotic supply rates during the period of heightened public awareness of Group A Streptococcus infections.The Journal of antimicrobial chemotherapy · 2024Article
- Internet Tool to Support Self-Assessment and Self-Swabbing of Sore Throat: Development and Feasibility Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2023Article
- Implementation of the national antimicrobial stewardship competencies for UK undergraduate healthcare professional education within undergraduate pharmacy programmes: a survey of UK schools of pharmacy.JAC-antimicrobial resistance · 2023Article
- Antibiotic stewardship: where next?The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2023Article
- Characteristics of the sore throat test and treat service in community pharmacies (STREP) in Wales: cross-sectional analysis of 11 304 consultations using anonymized electronic pharmacy records.The Journal of antimicrobial chemotherapy · 2022Article
- To swab or not to swab? Using point-of-care tests to detect Group A Streptococcus infections as part of a Sore Throat Test and Treat service in community pharmacy.The Journal of antimicrobial chemotherapy · 2022Article
- Self-sampling to identify pathogens and inflammatory markers in patients with acute sore throat: Feasibility study.Frontiers in immunology · 2022Article
- Are We Making the Most of Community Pharmacies? Implementation of Antimicrobial Stewardship Measures in Community Pharmacies: A Narrative Review.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Review
- Article
- Point-of-Care Testing for Pharyngitis in the Pharmacy.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2020Article
- Streptococcus A Rapid Diagnostic Testing in England Community Pharmacies: Clinical and Economic Impact of Empowering Pharmacists in Management of Sore Throat.Journal of primary care & community healthArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveA National Health Service (NHS)-funded sore throat test and treat (STTT) service was introduced in selected pharmacies in two local health boards in Wales, as an extension to the national pharmacy common ailment scheme. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of STTT on provision and quality of patient care, namely antibiotic use, patient safety and general practitioner (GP) consultation rates.
methodsSecondary analyses of STTT consultation data to describe service outcomes, and routine data to explore changes in antibiotic prescribing and the prevalence of complications. Data were also collected from one GP practice to explore the feasibility of measuring changes in sore throat consultation rates in general practice.
resultsLess than 20% of 1725 consultations resulted in antibiotic supply. The availability of STTT was associated with greater reductions in prescriptions for phenoxymethylpenicillin than in areas where STTT was not available (-3.8% and -3.4%, difference 0.4%). When pharmacy supplies were included, the reductions in the supply of the antibiotic were similar. No increase in the monthly number of incidents of quinsy was detected, and patients were appropriately referred to other healthcare professionals during pharmacy consultations. GP consultation rates since introduction of STTT were found to be lower than the equivalent monthly average since 2014.
conclusionsData from the first 5 months of the STTT service suggest that it may have a role in safely rebalancing uncomplicated sore throat management from general practice to community pharmacies while continuing to promote antibiotic stewardship.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.