Campaign in Fife highlights minor ailments role of pharmacists
Community pharmacists in Fife are to participate in a campaign this week to raise public awareness about treatment of minor ailments.
This is the second year that NHS
Fife has run a “Just ask your
pharmacist” campaign. This year’s topic was selected to help
prepare the public for the new community pharmacy contract in Scotland,
since a minor ailment service will be one of its four core services.
Nicola Carlyle, communications officer at NHS Fife, explained: “Many
people don’t know what ‘minor ailment’ means so the
campaign will help drip-feed the terminology to the public.”
She added that the campaign will also help to increase the public’s
awareness of pharmacists’ roles. “There is a whole host of
reasons for going to a pharmacy: they are accessible, you don’t
need an appointment, they have flexible hours and many now have private
consultation areas, something the public doesn’t always know about,” she
explained.
NHS Fife has given 55 participating pharmacies promotional materials
for the campaign which begins on 30 May. These include T-shirts, drinking
bottles, pens, key rings, posters and balloons. Pharmacies have also
been given leaflets about common minor ailments, which highlight the
pharmacist’s role.
In addition, four community pharmacists will appear on local radio programmes
to discuss five minor ailments.
Pharmacies will display the campaign logo |
The
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