Sussex village pharmacist helps save the life of teenager with 'sore throat'

Helen Carey, a pharmacist at Boots in Storrington, was able to refer the teenager straight to A&E for lifesaving treatment thanks to training she received under a new NHS ‘Pharmacy First’ scheme.

She said: “Not long after we started delivering the service a mum came in to see me and told me she had a teenage son at home with a sore throat and was having trouble speaking and wanted to know if it was something we could help with. I asked her to bring him in so that I could see him and examine his throat.

“As soon as he walked through the door, alarm bells rang, he was holding a wastepaper bin and just drooling into it, he could barely speak. Remembering the Pharmacy First training we had at Boots, and the symptoms of epiglottitis, I told his mum to take him immediately to A&E.

“The teenager’s father has recently been in to see me and told me that when they got to A&E, he was seen, and immediately blue-lighted to Brighton as an emergency, as his throat was closing up. He told me that his son might not be here if I hadn’t referred them to the hospital straight away.”

The teenager’s father, said: “On a Saturday morning earlier this year my wife and I were woken by our 16-year-old who was clearly in pain, drooling from the mouth, unable to talk and indicating their throat hurt.

“Thinking it to be a sore throat my wife drove to our local village Boots store in Storrington with him to see the on-duty pharmacist, Helen, for advice. Helen examined him and immediately advised taking him straight to A&E in Worthing.

“On arrival at Worthing, he was seen straight away and within a very short space of time was taken by emergency ambulance to The Children’s Hospital in Brighton. Subsequent tests showed a viral infection was causing his airway to swell. He was admitted to hospital overnight and received medicines and treatment.

“I can’t thank pharmacist Helen enough. In subsequent conversations she advised she knew our son wasn’t well at all and needed urgent medical attention. Thank you Boots Storrington – you are a credit to the community.”

The NHS Pharmacy First Service in England is free at the point of access. No appointment is needed, and most Boots stores offer a private consultation room in the pharmacy area for confidential discussions about patients’ health concerns.

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Acute sore throat has been the most treated condition to date at Boots under this service, but as the weather improves and people start travelling, Boots says it is seeing an increase in demand for support for infected insect bites, with consultations more than tripling from April to May.

Claire Nevinson, superintendent pharmacist at Boots, said: “Patients in England have welcomed Pharmacy First as a convenient way to access advice and treatment for a range of common minor conditions. Many consultations were held outside typical GP hours, making it easier for patients to get the care they need, when they need it.”