Pharmacists in Fife to assess men's health
Pharmacists are to assess men’s health because of their ready
accessibility |
Four community pharmacies in Fife are being funded to provide men's health assessments. Training is about to start and the service will be rolled out on 1 January next year.
Tom Burns, public health pharmacist at NHS Fife, explained: “The
health of Scotland’s men is particularly poor. In one part of Glasgow,
men’s life expectancy is the lowest in Europe. On the back of this,
the Scottish Executive Health Department made money available for men’s
health assessments.” He added: “I very much see screening
services as part of the public health component of the new pharmacy contract.”
The new pharmacy service is part of a multi-agency scheme. It is the
only one of seven men’s health assessment schemes funded by the
Scottish Executive that includes pharmacists. All professionals offering
the service — such as pharmacists, health visitors and district
nurses — will use the same standardised health assessment. It will
include measuring height and weight, calculating body mass index and
assessing cardiovascular risk. If needed, cholesterol and blood glucose
tests will be carried out. Other agencies involved in the scheme, such
as the Fife Alcohol Advisory Service, are providing support should men
need to be referred to them. It is envisaged that the pharmacists will
be able to refer men directly to secondary care.
Pharmacies have been included because of their accessibility in terms
of both convenient locations and extended opening hours. “We will
be advertising the service in the local press and local radio, targeting
men through their partners and targeting men who generally do not access
health services,” said Mr Burns.
Altogether, the Fife scheme has been awarded £266,000 over the
next two years; commuity pharmacies will receive £42,000. Pharmacists
will be paid at a rate of £40 for a 40-minute consultation and
will be expected to undertake two assessments a week for the two years
the service will last.
“We hope that men will find the high street service convenient
and accessible. If this is borne out in the evaluation then it should
lead to future
funding for pharmacy services,” commented Mr Burns.
Oral health Another public health initiative about to begin in
Fife involves 10 community pharmacists carrying out oral health assessments.
If any potentially cancerous lesions are identified the pharmacist
can directly refer the patient to the specialist hospital head and
neck service.
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