The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 279 No 7480 p610
1 December 2007

This article
Reprint   Photocopy

  Acrobat Reader

News summary

Abolishing script charges may affect MAS

The Scottish Government remains committed to the minor ailment service (MAS) but will have to consider what implications abolishing NHS prescription charges will have on the service, the health secretary has said.

During a parliamentary debate on 22 November 2007, Duncan McNeil MSP (Lab, Greenock and Inverclyde) asked the Government about the future of MAS.

Nicola Sturgeon, Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing, said: “When the Government fulfils its commitment to abolish prescription charges, we will consider the implications that that has for the minor ailment service. However, I reiterate that the Government remains committed to the principle of that service because it is in the interests of both patients and the NHS.”

She added that, as of 31 August 2007, the number of patients registered for MAS in Scotland was 541,385.