SECURING funding for pharmacist-delivered minor ailment services (MAS) will be critical to rolling them out, research reveals.
Data from a study conducted by researchers from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) aimed at co-designing and assessing the feasibility of an Australian MAS noted that many pharmacy-based services fail to produce the expected impact due to a lack of stakeholder involvement in their development.
As part of the study eight pharmacies in Western Sydney were recruited, five providing a MAS, while three provided usual care.
The MAS group identified three general practices around their stores to partake in the trial, with the pharmacies to share health information with GPs following consultations with patients.
The authors noted that the co-design method highlighted that stakeholders provided practical advice to service design and aided in the identification of systems used by medical professionals which, if also used by pharmacists, could promote integration of community pharmacy into broader primary care, adding "the designed MAS has been adapted to suit healthcare practices, which may increase the acceptance and impact of MAS when implemented into practice".
However, the authors reported that all the pharmacists involved in the study reported that "remuneration for their time would be critical if they were to implement MAS in their pharmacy".
The researchers noted that the majority of pharmacists believed that funding for such services should be delivered by State or Federal Governments, with a number of participants suggesting the economic savings of MAS would cover remuneration.
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