The Health and Community Care Committee of the Scottish Parliament has recommended
that community pharmacists should be on the front line of handling this winter’s
influenza outbreak in Scotland.
The committee’s report on last winter’s ’flu season, written
by Dr Richard Simpson, MSP (Lab, Ochil), and published on October 5, says that
criticism of last year’s vaccination advertising campaign as being “too
little, too late” was justified, particularly because community pharmacists
had not been involved in the campaign.
The report says that this year’s campaign should be locality specific and
should involve community pharmacies. Pharmacies would be able hand out literature
to high-risk patients collecting repeat prescriptions which encouraged them
to be vaccinated. There should also be an earlier national publicity campaign
for the self-management of influenza symptoms, the report says, with reference
to the advice that is available from community pharmacies.
The Scottish Executive has indicated to the committee that plans are in hand
for a more extensive, integrated and better timed campaign this year and that
representatives of community pharmacists have been involved in its planning.
The report adds that discussions about the influenza campaign could be the springboard
to a full re-evaluation of the role of community pharmacists as partners in
the National Health Service in Scotland.
Other recommendations in the report include a re-examination of the methods
of supplying influenza vaccines so as to avoid wastage and considering whether
Scotland should have its own production facility.
The convener of the committee (Ms Margaret Smith, MSP) is to write to the Scottish
Health Minister (Ms Susan Deacon) recommending that community pharmacists and
their staff should be included with other NHS staff in any voluntary ’flu
immunisation programme.
The report has been welcomed by the Scottish Pharmaceutical Federation for the
recognition it gives to community pharmacists.
Mr George Allan (chairman, Scottish Pharmaceutical Federation) said: “Coupled
with the Scottish Executive’s recently
announced high profile winter ‘flu
campaign, this will go to increasing the
focus on community pharmacists as the front line of the National Health Service
in Scotland.”