PHARMACY FIRST
> MAS, with a reimbursement value of £4.9 million.
Since its inception in 2006, MAS proved to be very popular with patients, with almost 90 per cent of respondents to a 2018 Community Pharmacy Scotland (CPS) report saying that they would rate it as ten out of ten.
The report totally validated the necessity of this service, with 60 per 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 value of the Minor Ailment Service,’ concluded the report, ‘is clear, for both patients and for the NHS as a whole.’
‘Should this constitute the service provided, its understanding would not only demonstrate this relatively
Fiona Gillies, George Romanes Pharmacy, Duns This new proposed service makes a lot of sense and will hopefully change the way in which we work. At the moment, following consultations with patients, we don’t have to write anything down and so it will be good in the long term for us to have everything now recorded. As an independent prescriber I’m also delighted that it will allow us more scope for prescribing. I’m also pleased that, as time goes on, it will be extended to issues other than UTIs and impetigo and will incorporate things like skin infections. Pharmacy First will enable us, as pharmacists, to use our clinical skills and ability more and more frequently.
8 - SCOTTISH PHARMACIST
unrecognised aspect of the service but facilitate the future development and refinement of what community pharmacies are capable of.’
The popularity of MAS didn’t go unnoticed, therefore, and so it was decided to expand the breadth of the services provided.
First Pharmacy First During the winter of 2017-18, a new scheme was introduced across every health board in Scotland. This scheme – also called Pharmacy First – enabled pharmacists to provide treatments for uncomplicated urinary tract infections and impetigo.
The aim of this inaugural Pharmacy First was again to encourage patients to use their pharmacy as the first port of call rather than exacerbating the problem of GP appointment overload.
The scheme involved community pharmacists carrying out consultations with patients and providing treatment under locally- agreed patient group directions.
‘This,’ a Scottish Government spokesperson said at the time, ‘builds on the role of pharmacists as part of
the multidisciplinary team in primary care, making the best use of their clinical skills.’
This new Pharmacy First will now, as the spokesperson said, allow pharmacists to make the best use of their clinical skills by combining the best of MAS with the best of the first Pharmacy First.
This new, redesigned Pharmacy First service will replace the current MAS and current Pharmacy First services and will commence in all community pharmacies from April 2020.
Over the next few months, a range of materials will be distributed to pharmacists across Scotland and campaigns will be run to raise awareness of the new scheme amongst members of the public, pharmacy staff and other healthcare professionals.
What will Pharmacy First provide? The new scheme – which will be a combination of MAS and the current Pharmacy First service – will enable pharmacists to offer a wider common clinical conditions service. Unlike MAS, however, the service will be >
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