By Ross Ferguson.

With the global sum for community pharmacy unchanged for 2017/18, we can all breathe a sigh of relief in Scotland.

After the conclusion of what Community Pharmacy Scotland (CPS) called “challenging discussions” with the Scottish Government, the community pharmacy global sum in Scotland remains unchanged at £178.359m for 2017/18. Compared to the situation in England, this seems somewhat more positive.

Scotland’s national minor ailments scheme (MAS) is proving its worth. According to a recent report from CPS, MAS saves Scotland’s GPs an estimated 240,000 working hours per year – equivalent to the work of around 115 full-time doctors.

CPS is hoping the Inverclyde Pharmacy First pilot, which is testing universal access to MAS in 19 pharmacies, will demonstrate the way forward. As part of the pilot, MAS has also been extended to include treatment for uncomplicated urinary tract infections in women aged 16-60 years, impetigo and shingles.

Meanwhile, 12 community pharmacies across different health boards in Scotland are taking part in a pilot to test how short, sharp, quality interventions with three care bundles (respiratory disease, type 2 diabetes and depression) can help patients get the best from their medicines.

The three-month pilot will be evaluated to determine whether it would be worth investigating the value of these type of interventions further. It is hoped that an implementation study across a larger group of pharmacies will be taken forward in 2018.

Election success

Yet again, Scotland has trumped England in voter turnout for the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) board elections, with a 17.8 per cent voter turnout compared to just 10.9 per cent in England.

Jonathan Burton was returned to the Scottish Pharmacy Board after a year out. Also elected were newcomers Alasdair Macintyre and Debbie Stafford, while Ailsa Power was re-elected. John McAnaw was reaffirmed as chair and Jonathan Burton as vice-chair. David Thomson continues as the SPB’s assembly representative.

Calendar

Events to look out for in Scotland over the next few months include the Pharmacy Management National Forum for Scotland in Dunblane on August 30.

In September, there is the joint CPS-University of Strathclyde research day on the 14th. The main objective of the collaborative event is to allow community pharmacy practitioners to showcase their work through poster presentations and, through networking, start to develop a shared research network. PhD student Natalie Weir is helping to co-ordinate the event.

Finally, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society Scottish National Seminar 2017, ‘Pharmacy for the future – building on strong foundations’, will take place on Saturday September 30 and Sunday October 1 at the Stirling Court Hotel in Stirling.

Ross Ferguson is a community pharmacist, writer and runs the Pharmacy in Practice website.