The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 270 No 7232 p70
18 January 2003

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News summary

"Spotter pharmacies" could track illness patterns through OTC sales

A report on the public health potential for community pharmacies in Scotland says that they could be used to track illness in the population.

Such pharmacies, called "spotter pharmacies", could track the incidence of influenza-like illness, local outbreaks of disease or resistance to head lice treatments through monitoring over-the-counter sales or requests for information. A practical and robust way of doing this needs to be developed and a pilot study of spotter pharmacies should be considered.

Overall, pharmacy premises in Scotland should be modernised in order to allow them to become centres for public health advice, according to a new report.

The report, "Pharmacy for health", says that the model pharmacies scheme set up as part of the Scottish pharmaceutical care strategy has shown that an environment "conducive to the delivery of health improvement" can be established. "The goal is to establish the pharmacy network as a primary source of advice and information for health improvement." The modernisation programme should be supported throughout Scotland by 2005, it recommends.

On emergency planning, it says that there could be great challenges in getting the right medication to patients in case of an accident or bioterrorism attack. Community pharmacy and its supply chain could be involved in this, especially in rural or island areas.

In conclusion, the report says that while pharmacists are already contributing to public health in a variety of ways and in many different settings there is enormous potential for them to play a greater role.

Copies of the report, "Pharmacy for health: the way forward for pharmaceutical public health in Scotland", can be obtained from Sharon Wilson on 0141 300 1026 (e-mail sharon.wilson@phis.csa.scot.nhs.uk).