MINOR AILMENTS
cent of those who used the service saying they would have gone to their GP if they could not have accessed this service at their community pharmacy.
Others said that, in the absence of the service, they would have bought over-the-counter medicines, would not have treated their condition, would have looked online for guidance or would have gone to A&E.
Of those who responded, the majority of service users (89.7 per cent) had used MAS before. More than half (58 per cent) accessed the service for themselves, 37.7 per cent for a child, and 4.2 per cent for another adult.
The perceptions of service users included high levels of privacy and a belief that pharmacist access to their patient files would enhance the care that they are able to provide.
Overall satisfaction of experiencing treatment through MAS was rated highly across all minor ailment groupings and locations, evidencing the high standard of service provision, whilst improving access to care and minimising health inequalities.
Importantly, almost 90 per cent of people felt that they had adequate privacy to discuss their minor ailment and in support of CPS’ long-term campaign, over 60% agreed that pharmacist access to their patient
OPINION
Martin Green, Chair of the Board at CPS
We are delighted with this report which has been independently produced in conjunction with two outstanding universities. This report was designed to give us tangible data on the reasons why people use the Minor Ailment Service, what they think of it and which alternative NHS service they would have used if this was unavailable to them. The evidence is clear, the Minor Ailment Service is extremely popular and saves GP time.
medication files would enhance the care that they were able to provide.
RECOMMENDATIONS
‘The value of the Minor Ailment Service,’ concluded the report, ‘is clear, for both patients and for the NHS as a whole.’
‘Further work should be done,’ it noted, ‘to explore and quantify the advice provided by community pharmacists as this phenomena surely contributes to the high number of responses reporting good relationships with pharmacy staff.
‘Should this constitute the service provided, its understanding would not only demonstrate this relatively unrecognised aspect of the service but facilitate the future development and refinement of what community pharmacies are capable of.’
Reasons For Seeking Treatment ThroughMAS
You can find the full published report at
www.cps.scot/mas-report.
Several reasons informed the choice of using MAS with ‘Convenient Location’ (n=748; 67.1%), ‘No Appointment Needed’ (n=716; 64.3%), and ‘Good Relationship With The Pharmacy Already’ (n=700; 62.8%) as the most commonly reported. Service users could indicate multiple responses that informed their service use decision.
REASONS FOR SEEKING TREATMENT THROUGH MAS
“What were the reasons that made you decide to choose to visit your pharmacy rather than other healthcare providers?”
Convenient Location
748 (67.1%)
No Appointment Needed
716 (64.3%)
Good Relationship With the Pharmacy Already 700 (62.8%)
Not Serious Enough to See a GP 660 (59.2%)
Have Used MAS Before 620 (55.7%)
Didn’t Have to Travel Far 468 (42.0%)
Seen/ Heard to use ‘Pharmacy First’ 357 (32.0%)
Figure 4:Multiple choice responses for reasons for accessing MAS Table 5:Multiple choice responses for reasons for accessing MAS
Reason for choosing MAS Convenient Location
No Appointment Needed
Good Relationship With The Pharmacy Ailment Not Serious Enough To See A GP Have Used MAS Before Didn't Have To Travel Far
Seen/ Heard To Use 'Pharmacy First' Open When Other Services Are Not
n
748 716 700 660 620 468 357 172
%
67.1 64.3 62.8 59.2 55.7 42.0 32.0 15.4
SCOTTISH PHARMACIST - 29
Open When Other Services Are Not 172 (15.4%)
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48
