Minor ailments schemes could undermine self-care
Pharmacy minor ailments schemes can attract patients away from GPs to community pharmacies, but should not compromise self-care, the National
Public Health Service for Wales has warned.
“Setting up minor ailments schemes could undermine any proposed
future plans for patients themselves to take increased responsibility
for self-care
of minor ailments,” it says. “Changing patient access to
advice and drugs from one NHS professional to another may compromise
self-care.”
The NPHS reached this conclusion after reviewing the effectiveness of
community pharmacy minor ailments schemes. It found few relevant papers,
21 in English, German, French or Spanish published from January 1995
to September 2007, a lack of high quality data and little evidence on
the impact on patient outcomes.
Observational data showed that pharmacy minor ailments schemes improve
access and reduce GP consultations for minor ailments. Patients are also
satisfied with the treatment and advice they receive. In addition, some
may prefer to visit a pharmacy to treat minor ailments, rather than to
consult a GP.
The NPHS also found that, although evidence on cost-effectiveness was
not conclusive, there appear to be cost savings from pharmacy-based minor
ailments schemes, compared with the cost of GP consultations, and primary
care organisations may benefit from reductions in spending on medicines.
The review is available
online.
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The
Pharmaceutical Journal
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