MAS TEN YEARS IN - HOW
SCOTLAND’S MINOR AILMENT SCHEME CONTINUES TO GROW
THIS YEAR THE 'REVOLUTIONARY' NATIONAL SERVICE, THE MINOR AILMENTS SERVICE (MAS), MARKS ITS TENTH ANNIVERSARY. SCOTTISH PHARMACIST LOOKS AT HOW THE SCHEME CONTINUES TO GROW, WHILE ONE PHARMACIST PAYS TRIBUTE THE SERVICE WHICH HAS PROVED INVALUABLE TO MANY...
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aunched in June 2006, the Minor Ailments Service (MAS) had a very definite objective. The service, aimed at people
- including children - who didn't pay prescription charges, was intended to reduce GP appointment times by making certain items, which had previously been prescription only, available through community pharmacy.
In order to use the service, patients simply had to register with the community pharmacy of their choice and, once registered, they could present at any point with symptoms of a wide range of ailments, such as:
* acne
* back ache * cold sores * diarrhoea
* haemorrhoids (piles) * head lice * mouth ulcers * period pain
* warts and verrucae
On presentation, the pharmacist would ascertain the patient's eligibility to use the service and would either simply treat or advise within the pharmacy or, if necessary, refer the patient to another healthcare practitioner - usually the GP - as and where appropriate.
A quick glance at the most up-to- date MAS statistics from ISD Scotland show clearly how successful - and popular - MAS has been throughout Scotland.
As at 31 March 2015, nearly 18 per cent of the population of Scotland was registered for MAS - a total of 913,483 people - with more than 2.1 million items dispensed under the service, accounting for 2.2 per cent of all items dispensed by community pharmacies in Scotland.
The cost of items dispensed under the Minor Ailments Service in 2014/15 was £5 million, with paracetamol (in all formulations) being the drug
MAS Treatments
NHS Board Data 2014/15 NHS Board Scotland
NHS AYRSHIRE & ARRAN NHS BORDERS
NHS DUMFRIES & GALLOWAY NHS FIFE
NHS FORTH VALLEY NHS GRAMPIAN
NHS GREATER GLASGOW & CLYDE NHS HIGHLAND
NHS LANARKSHIRE NHS LOTHIAN NHS ORKNEY NHS SHETLAND NHS TAYSIDE
NHS WESTERN ISLES 28 - SCOTTISH PHARMACIST
Number of MAS Items1
2,159,540 192,314 51,679 41,864
124,545 101,748 178,850 594,261 89,114
344,610 287,234 6,396 7,543
137,609 1,773
GIC (£)
4,992,670 432,355.69 116,967.13 96,986.82 325,362.40 242,437.54 416,460.20 1,237,532.43 215,789.86 802,459.54 712,305.43 15,439.24 20,449.86 353,793.93 4,330.34
Cost per Item (£) 2.31 2.25 2.26 2.32 2.61 2.38 2.33 2.08 2.42 2.33 2.48 2.41 2.71 2.57 2.44
Registrations2 913,483
81,972 19,805 22,828 60,626 47,015 81,029
219,166 44,578
131,064 135,715 2,534 2,573
63,708 870
No. of Items per 1000 Registrations 2,364 2,346 2,609 1,834 2,054 2,164 2,207 2,711 1,999 2,629 2,116 2,524 2,932 2,160 2,038
most frequently dispensed through MAS in 2014/15, accounting for 21.4 per cent of items dispensed. (This accounts for 5.4 per cent of the total cost of paracetamol items dispensed by community pharmacies in Scotland for that year).
By the end of March 2015, every community pharmacy in Scotland had patients registered for MAS - an increase in registrations of two per cent over the previous year. It's also clear that MAS has appealed across the Health Boards, with those in more populous areas obviously attracting more eligible patients.
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