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Minor Ailment Service extends across all pharmacies in Inverclyde
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The Minor Ailment Service (MAS) in Inverclyde has been extended and augmented under a new pilot scheme.
It now includes all patients registered with a GP practice in the area and includes treatments for the most common, uncomplicated conditions normally requiring a GP prescription. All of Inverclyde’s 19 community pharmacies have signed up to the scheme.
The pilot will test whether opening up the Minor Ailment Service to all patients will improve access to appropriate primary care services and will reinforce pharmacy as the first port of call for minor ailments, says the Scottish government. It will be evaluated as part of a whole systems approach to primary care transformational change within the Inverclyde Health and Social Care Partnership area.
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society in Scotland’s manifesto – ‘Right Medicine – Better Health – Fitter Future’ included a call for such an extension to the MAS, and the Society said it was “delighted” with the news.
RPS director for Scotland Alex MacKinnon said: “This was one of our key asks in our parliamentary manifesto ahead of the elections last year and I am delighted to see this pilot getting underway. I look forward to hearing more as it is rolled out and seeing the results of its evaluation.”