The future of out-of-hours care requires community pharmacists to have a "greater profile", the Scottish government has said. 

The government used its primary care review, published on Monday (November 30), to set out a range of recommendations for the sector (see below), including greater access to electronic patient records, increased patient awareness of the minor ailments service and more roles for pharmacists with advanced clinical skills.

A “greater awareness and use of community pharmacists for treating minor ailments” would shift demand away from daytime and out-of-hours urgent care, it stressed in the document.

The government has earmarked £1 million to "fast-track the testing of a new urgent care model", which includes using pharmacists in multidisciplinary teams based at "urgent care resource hubs across Scotland", it added. 

Deliverable recommendations

Community Pharmacy Scotland (CPS) told C+D the government's recommendations are "deliverable and will aid out-of-hours patient care".

The sector's ability to prescribe emergency repeat prescriptions is "vital in reducing the burden on other areas of out-of-hours care" and CPS is "pleased there is a commitment to further utilise this", a spokesperson said yesterday (December 2).

The government mooted pharmacists working alongside GPs in "community health hubs"  in August, and health secretary Shona Robison said this week that the out-of-hours review will "build on this".

Part of the government's existing £60m primary care fund will be used to "employ more pharmacists to work alongside GPs and allow patients to always be seen by the person best able to address their needs", she added.

How else could pharmacists contribute to out-of-hours care? 

We want to hear your views, but please express them in the spirit of a constructive, professional debate. For more information about what this means, please click here to see our community principles and information