Coronavirus: Pharmacists job role boosted in Scotland

Community pharmacists are to perform an enhanced role during the coronavirus outbreak to help reduce the pressure on other parts of NHS Scotland.

The Scottish Government has accelerated plans to expand access to Emergency Care Summary (ECS) data, which mainly contains medication information, to pharmacists. Meanwhile, Health Boards have been asked to provide access to this information to pharmacists and pharmacy technicians working in communities.

Scottish Health Secretary Jeane Freeman said: “The vital work of community pharmacies up and down the country is key in ensuring that we continue to reduce the burden across the NHS, and patients continue to get the necessary medicines they need to stay healthy.

“Many people visit a community pharmacy every day, with these numbers increasing in the current COVID-19 outbreak. This makes them the most accessible healthcare professionals on the front line of community health services, and a valuable resource to NHS Scotland. Strengthening the role of pharmacists, and easing some of the pressure from frontline NHS services, is therefore an important step in our wide ranging response to the current crisis.”

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This story was first published in digitalhealth.net

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