Do not restrict emollient choice, skin group says
A patient with eczema: sensitive skin means that some emollient
products are better tolerated than others and therefore choice should
not be restricted |
Further SCC information
More details about the Skin Care Campaign are available by visiting
www.skincarecampaign.org |
Patients should be given the opportunity to choose the emollient products that suit them from the widest possible selection, according to members of the Skin Care Campaign (SCC), an umbrella group that represents the interests of all people with skin diseases in the UK.
In a letter to all hospital pharmacies in December 2004, Peter Lapsley,
the chief executive of the SCC, expressed concern about reports that
some hospital pharmacies were restricting the choice of emollients available
in an effort to reduce costs. The majority of treatments for skin diseases
are applied topically and are therefore “worn” like cosmetics,
rather than taken internally. For this reason, the smell, texture and
feel of a product can have a big influence on whether or not it is used
and, therefore, on its clinical effectiveness. A product that is not
used can undermine a treatment regimen, producing a poor clinical outcome
and is wasteful of NHS resources, Mr Lapsley argued.
Many people will need a selection of products — for example, heavier
emollients for use on limbs than for the face, richer (ie, greasier)
emollients for night time use compared with those used during the day
and different products for use in the winter compared with the summer.
Moreover, people with eczema and related conditions tend to have sensitive
skin and find some products more tolerable than others.
Taking into account these factors, staff at some hospital pharmacy departments
now provide kits of six or seven emollients, with a sufficient amount
of each product for a two- or three-day trial. Similarly, practice at
some dermatology departments is to allow patients to test a dab of a
large number of products before choosing the emollient(s) they wish to
take home with them.
We are regularly asked, “Which is the best emollient?” said
Allan Melzack, a community pharmacist at Tesco stores in Handforth, South
Manchester with a special interest in eczema. “There is no universal
best emollient. Patients need the opportunity to work out which is best
for them by trying a range of products,” he explained
— Contributed |
Hospital Pharmacist