Forth Valley pharmacists extend services for COPD
Community pharmacists in the Forth Valley have become the first in Scotland to provide patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) a tailored pharmacy-based service.
Working according to a patient group direction the pharmacists will be
able to offer patients antibiotics and corticosteroids as well as give
advice about their condition and stop-smoking support.
Each pharmacy will be paid £200 for signing up to the scheme and
a monthly retainer of £40. Another £20 is paid if more than
20 patients are seen under the scheme.
The money is, for the first time, being paid to pharmacists out of the
budget traditionally set aside for GP enhanced services.
Pharmacist and chairman of the Forth Valley NHS board Ian Mullen said: “This
is the only board in Scotland chaired by a pharmacist and therefore I
suppose we are committed to these kinds of issues and looking for ways
to expand the clinical role of community pharmacists.”
Campbell Shimmins, chairman of the Forth Valley pharmacy contractor committee
and a board member, said: “We are an ex-mining community so we
see a lot of COPD. The initiative, which has been developed by our specialist
respiratory pharmacist, is quite innovative — it allows us to prescribe
in cases of acute exacerbation. It’s an enhanced service which
has been negotiated between the pharmacists, GPs and nurses and is being
paid for out of primary care funds.”
He added that the scheme would provide a showcase for the clinical skills
that pharmacists have: “It reminds people that … we can do
other things which they would not traditionally expect from their pharmacy.”
Forth Valley Health Board is also developing the role pharmacists can
play in helping patients with osteoporosis as part of a wider falls prevention
programme involving GPs and nurses.
Before dispensing, pharmacists will carry out a falls audit. They will
ask the patient up to five questions to assess whether their medication
puts them at risk of a fall or increases their chances of osteoporosis.
They will be able to refer patients back to their GP for a bone density
scan if appropriate and also offer advice around falls
prevention.
Some 54 of the 69 pharmacies in the district have so far signed up to
both the falls prevention and the COPD scheme.
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