The role of community pharmacists in public health in Scotland should be clarified, according to a report prepared for the Scottish Executive.
The report's main focus is on the role of public health medicine and dentistry at health board level, but one of its recommendations is that the health improvement role of pharmacists in providing safe and effective pharmaceutical care and fostering health promotion and disease prevention should be "considered further at national level, paying particular attention to the potential for pharmacists to contribute to community based health improvement".
The report, "Review of the public health function in Scotland", was written by a team led by Sir David Carter (chief medical officer for Scotland) and was published by the Minister for Health and Community Care (Ms Susan Deacon, MSP) on December 20, 1999. Its main recommendations are the creation of a Scottish Public Health Institute and the development of health boards as public health organisations. It also calls for health boards to have consultant posts in public health medicine, public health dentistry, and communicable diseases and environmental health.
Review of the public health function in Scotland. Scottish Executive. The Stationery Office (ISBN 0 7480 9303 6). The document is also available on the internet at www.scotland.gov.uk/library2/doc09/rphf-00.asp.