Minor Ailments Service Halted

An initiative to launch a groundbreaking service to deal with minor illness and injury run by local pharmacists has hit a snag.

The NI Minor Ailment Service was to provide patient self-care arrangements through access to a safe and high quality pharmaceutical service, and to utilise the skills of community pharmacists and so to free-up GP appointments for those patients who have more need to see a doctor.

However, the scheme has now been firmly rejected by the majority of community pharmacy contractors in Northern Ireland.

The new service would have meant an injection of significant new funding of £1.5m each year which would have greatly increased the income for pharmacists, enlarged the range of services available to patients and helped ease the burden on GPs.

Already, since 2005, a limited minor ailments service had been in operation.

The scheme provided pharmaceutical advice and treatment for those who suffer minor ailments such as coughs, colds and hayfever and who do not normally pay prescription charges.

In addition to these, the new service, from this month, aimed to offer six new 'condition areas'.

But, a spokesperson for the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety said that whilst disappointed at the lack of agreement with chemists, the Minister remained committed to providing a minor ailments service from community pharmacies.

"The Department regrets that this service will no longer be available to the majority of patients who have used it over the last few years.

"The original service provided excellent benefits to patients, as well as to pharmacists and GPs and the enhanced service would have brought further benefits to all concerned.

"The opportunity for pharmacy contractors to provide the enhanced service is still available and the Department welcomes that some contractors have decided to provide the new enhanced service to patients," said a spokesperson.

"We know that patients value this service and will benefit greatly from the improved access to a range of additional therapy areas.

"Those contractors who currently are not providing the enhanced service are encouraged to give the matter further consideration and elect to provide a service, supported by substantial new funding, which expands the professional role of the pharmacist and improves patients' access to advice and treatment for a range of minor ailments."

The offer was made against a background of difficult contract negotiations which have been ongoing since 2004 within a framework which has been agreed between the Department of Health Social Services and Public Safety and pharmacy contractor negotiators.


(BMcC)