Minor Ailment Service Research Articles

A review of international pharmacy-based minor ailment services and proposed service design model.

The need to consider sustainable healthcare solutions is essential. An innovative strategy used to promote minor ailment care is the utilisation of community pharmacists to deliver minor ailment services (MASs). Promoting higher levels of self-care can potentially reduce the strain on existing resources. To explore the features of international MASs, including their similarities and differences, and consider the essential elements to design a MAS model. A grey literature search strategy was completed in June 2017 to comply with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses standard. This included (1) Google/Yahoo! search engines, (2) targeted websites, and (3) contact with commissioning organisations. Executive summaries, table of contents and title pages of documents were reviewed. Key characteristics of MASs were extracted and a MAS model was developed. A total of 147 publications were included in the review. Key service elements identified included eligibility, accessibility, staff involvement, reimbursement systems. Several factors need to be considered when designing a MAS model; including contextualisation of MAS to the market. Stakeholder engagement, service planning, governance, implementation and review have emerged as key aspects involved with a design model. MASs differ in their structural parameters. Consideration of these parameters is necessary when devising MAS aims and assessing outcomes to promote sustainability and success of the service.

More than 2,000 pharmacies to offer NHS 111 minor ailments service across England

More than 2,000 pharmacies to offer NHS 111 minor ailments service across England

Scottish government announces national minor ailments service for all

Scottish government announces national minor ailments service for all

WITHDRAWN: A Review Of International Pharmacy- Based Minor Ailment Services And Proposed Service Design Model

WITHDRAWN: A Review Of International Pharmacy- Based Minor Ailment Services And Proposed Service Design Model

Tele-pharmacy in rural Scotland: a proof of concept study.

Technology enables medical services to be provided to rural communities. This proof of concept study assessed the feasibility and acceptability of delivering community pharmacy services (CPS; including advice, sale of over-the-counter products and dispensing of prescriptions) by tele-technology (the Telepharmacy Robotic Supply Service (TPRSS)) to a rural population in Scotland. Data collection included the following: postal surveys to local residents; focus groups/ interviews with pharmacists, other healthcare professionals (HCPs) and service users, at baseline and follow-up; TPRSS logs. Interviews/focus groups were audio-recorded, transcribed and thematically analysed. Descriptive statistics were reported for survey data. Qualitative results: Pre-installation: residents expressed satisfaction with current pharmacy access. HCPs believed the TPRSS would improve pharmacy access and reduce pressure on GPs. Concerns included costs, confidentiality, patient safety and 'fear' of technology. Post-installation: residents and pharmacy staff were positive, finding the service easy to use. Quantitative results: Pre-installation: almost half the respondents received regular prescription medicines and a third used an over-the-counter (OTC) medicine at least monthly. More than 80% (124/156) reported they would use the TPRSS. There was low awareness of the minor ailment service (MAS; 38%; 59/156). Post-installation: prescription ordering and OTC medicine purchase were used most frequently; the video link was used infrequently. Reasons for non-use were lack of need (36%; 40/112) and linkage to only one pharmacy (31%; 35/112). Community pharmacy services delivered remotely using tele-technology are feasible and acceptable. A larger study should be undertaken to confirm the potential of the TPRSS to reduce health inequalities in rural areas.

Welsh government puts up £750,000 to support pharmacy minor ailments service

Welsh government puts up £750,000 to support pharmacy minor ailments service

Minor ailment services

Minor ailment services

Negotiations in progress over national minor ailment service

Negotiations in progress over national minor ailment service

RPS to press ministers over “deeply frustrating” breakdown of minor ailment service talks

RPS to press ministers over “deeply frustrating” breakdown of minor ailment service talks

Exploring opportunities for providing pharmacists with feedback on their practice and performance around the electronic Minor Ailments Service in Scotland

The electronic Minor Ailments Service (e-MAS), implemented in all community pharmacies in Scotland since 2006, allows pharmacists to manage minor ailments at no charge to patients including provision of medication, advice or referral. E-MAS is supported through an electronic network, 'E-pharmacy', which is managed by National Health Service Scotland. E-pharmacy has the capacity to remotely record e-MAS activities, such as details of medicines supply and patient registration allowing provision of feedback to community pharmacies. The aim of this research was to explore community pharmacists' views on potential utility of e-MAS performance data as a source of feedback on the quality of their own practice. Focus groups and telephone interviews with community pharmacists from four geographical Health Board areas in Scotland were utilised. Twenty community pharmacists took part in the study. Pharmacists highlighted potential for feedback to support practice in areas related to medicines supply (for example, formulary adherence and reimbursements to pharmacies from the Health Boards), patient registration and the impact of the new guidelines on their practice. Participants deemed individualised feedback to be potentially more useful than local or national aggregated data sets. Issues of confidentiality and participants' disinterest in feedback were potential barriers to the use of the data. This qualitative study has identified potential benefits of performance feedback data to pharmacists' practice. Key barriers to the use of the feedback, such as the issues of privacy and confidentiality need to be addressed by National Health Service information providers. Findings warrant further large scale evaluation of their application to practice.

Registrations for minor ailment service in Scotland approach one million

Registrations for minor ailment service in Scotland approach one million

Minor ailment service registrations must be electronic

Minor ailment service registrations must be electronic

RPS wants wider access to Scottish minor ailment service

RPS wants wider access to Scottish minor ailment service

Minor ailment service registrations up in Scotland

Minor ailment service registrations up in Scotland

Minor ailments service for England unlikely within two years, says PSNC

Minor ailments service for England unlikely within two years, says PSNC

Changing patient consultation patterns in primary care: an investigation of uptake of the Minor Ailments Service in Scotland

To study the impact and potential predictors of uptake of patient registrations and supplied medicines under the Minor Ailments Scheme (MAS) in Scotland. The MAS was introduced in 2006, intending to improve health care access by re-directing patients from primary care to community pharmacies. Numbers of dispensed MAS items and patient registrations were obtained for all community pharmacies in Scotland for the period 2006-2009. Local demographic and socioeconomic characteristics were attributed to community pharmacies as potential predictors of MAS service uptake. There were significantly more MAS registrations in community pharmacies located in the most deprived areas. MAS registrations in rural areas were significantly lower than in urban areas. Rates of MAS items supplied ranged from 219.9 to 3604.6 items per 10,000 Health Board population in 2008/09. Urban pharmacies supplied 72.6 MAS items per month compared to 43.3 items per month by rural pharmacies. 96.7 items per month were supplied by pharmacies in the most deprived areas compared to 53.2 items per month in the least deprived areas. There has been geographical variation in uptake of the MAS service. Community pharmacies under multiple ownership engaged in MAS activity to a greater extent than independent pharmacies, with higher uptake in community pharmacies located in deprived and urban areas.

Cross-sectional survey of community pharmacists' views of the electronic Minor Ailment Service in Scotland

The aim was to investigate community pharmacists' views on the implementation of the electronic Minor Ailment Service (e-MAS) in Scottish community pharmacies and to quantify the barriers and facilitators to service provision. A postal cross-sectional survey of all community pharmacies in Scotland (n = 1138) was conducted. A combination of open, closed and Likert-type questions were used. A response rate of 49.5% was achieved. A majority of respondents (over 84%) ranked their level of implementation of e-MAS as 4 or 5 on the five-point scale where point 1 represented 'not at all' and 5 represented 'very high'. A majority also identified opportunities to extend professional roles (83.3%), opportunities for more effective patient treatment (78.5%), opportunities to better meet patient expectations (74.4%) and financial advantage to their pharmacy (52.6%) as benefits of e-MAS. Suspected misuse/overuse of the service by some customers (75.1%) and time required for recording each consultation or supply (61.3%) were two barriers agreed upon by the majority of the respondents. A majority of respondents had positive views towards e-MAS. The benefits agreed upon by the majority of the respondents relate to known facilitators of community pharmacy practice change. Major barriers, namely suspected misuse of the service by some customers and timely process for recording consultation or supply, could affect pharmacists' efficiency in service delivery and need to be addressed. These results could inform similar schemes that may be introduced locally in the UK or elsewhere.

Value of Culdocentesis

<h3>Background</h3> Community pharmacists are well positioned to support patients’ minor ailments. The objective was to evaluate the clinical and humanistic impact of a minor ailment service (MAS) in community pharmacy compared with usual pharmacist care (UC). <h3>Methods</h3> A cluster randomised controlled trial was conducted. Intervention patients received MAS, which included a consultation with the pharmacist. MAS pharmacists were trained in clinical pathways and communication systems mutually agreed with general practitioners and received monthly support. Control patients received UC. All patients were followed up by telephone at 14 days. Clinical and humanistic impact were defined by primary (appropriate referral rate and appropriate non-prescription medicine rate) and secondary outcomes (clinical product-based intervention rate, referral adherence, symptom resolution, reconsultation and EuroQol EQ-5D visual analogue scale (VAS)). <h3>Results</h3> Patients (n=894) were recruited from 30 pharmacies and 82% (n=732) responded to follow-up. Patients receiving MAS were 1.5 times more likely to receive an appropriate referral (relative rate (RR)=1.51; 95% CI 1.07 to 2.11; p=0.018) and were five times more likely to adhere to referral, compared with UC (RR=5.08; 95%CI 2.02 to 12.79; p=0.001). MAS patients (94%) achieved symptom resolution or relief at follow-up, while this was 88% with UC (RR=1.06; 95% CI 1 to 1.13; p=0.035). MAS pharmacists were 1.2 times more likely to recommend an appropriate medicine (RR 1.20, 95% CI 1.1 to 1.3; p=0.000) and were 2.6 times more likely to perform a clinical product-based intervention (RR=2.62, 95% CI 1.28 to 5.38; p=0.009), compared with UC. MAS patients had a greater mean difference in VAS at follow-up (4.08; 95% CI 1.23 to 6.87; p=0.004). No difference in reconsultation was observed (RR=0.98; 95% CI 0.75 to 1.28; p=0.89). <h3>Conclusion</h3> The study demonstrates improved clinical and humanistic outcomes with MAS. National implementation is a means to manage minor ailments more effectively in the Australian health system. <h3>Trial registration number</h3> ACTRN12618000286246.