Fifteen per cent of patients in Scotland have registered with minor ailment service
One in seven patients in Scotland is now registered with the community pharmacy minor ailment service.
By June 2007, 817,404 patients had registered with the service, according
to statistics published this week by the information services of NHS
Scotland. This represents 15.1 per cent of patients registered with GPs
in Scotland.
Registration was highest in the two boards that piloted the scheme: NHS
Ayrshire & Arran, where 24.4 per cent of patients registered, and
NHS Tayside, where 17.8 per cent registered.
In the first nine months of the service, from July 2006 to March 2007,
an average of 56,720 items were dispensed by the service each month.
The top five items dispensed were: paracetamol, ibuprofen, simple linctus,
malathion and chloramphenicol.
Data published this week also show that prescription numbers continue
to rise in Scotland. In the financial year 2006–07, there was a
2.9 per cent increase in the number of prescriptions dispensed by community
pharmacists and appliance suppliers and a 4.9 per cent increase in net
ingredient cost.
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