London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

Pain, burning, urgency – the symptoms of urinary tract infections (UTIs) in women are common, with most women having experienced that sinking feeling when they realise a UTI is coming on at least once in their lifetime.  

In England, the way that women are urged to treat UTIs has changed dramatically over recent years. Seeing a GP, popping into a genitourinary medicine clinic, walking into an A&E, formal and informal advice  about how drinking water or cranberry juice should do the trick, and encouragement not to seek clinical care or antibiotics at all: these are pathways and conversations that women report in England. We have previously conducted sociological research on self-care for UTIs in the UK, focusing on the experiences of women who self-identify as racialised minorities and low-income households. Now, women are being encouraged to see their pharmacists for uncomplicated UTIs, in a service that was launched almost exactly two years ago today. 

When new treatment policies and pathways are implemented, it isn’t into a vacuum, or into a new population. The new service has to be taken up by women who already have an understanding of the services on offer, as well as their own views, experiences (positive, negative, and neutral), and opinions of what works for them.  We are evaluating this, and many more metrics important to the public, in our pharmacy first evaluation.