Every working day, people come to the community pharmacy for advice about minor ailments and symptoms. Recent research found that the proportion of general practice and emergency department (ED) consultations for minor ailments potentially suitable for management in community pharmacy was around 13 and 5%, respectively. Encouraging self-care is a good thing, and with increasing pressure on doctors’ and nurses’ workload, it is likely that the community pharmacy will be even more widely used as a first port of call for minor illness. There are often local initiatives to encourage this. Members of the public present to pharmacists and their staff in a number of ways, which include
This is the eighth edition
of our book and appears 28 years after the first. Dr Martin Duerden has joined
us as co-author and we wish Dr Paul Paxton well in his retirement. Paul was
instrumental in the original development of the ideas and format for the book
and made a major contribution over the years. The update in this edition comes
at an exciting time for pharmacists in the United Kingdom with increasing
emphasis on their clinical role.
Among the changes in this
new edition are
- A more explicit emphasis on the evidence base for ‘over-the-counter’ medicines and a clearer explanation of the book’s approach and evidence sources
- A visual display of the guidelines, systematic reviews and other reliable sources of information used to update the book
- Greater highlighting of ‘red flag’ symptoms/signs and explanation of their significance
- A reworked Introduction with consideration of
- how community pharmacy teams fit within a changing NHS landscape as a source of first contact care
- increasing digital integration of community pharmacies into wider primary care
- New sections on Erectile Dysfunction and Malaria Prevention to reflect recent
·
As for previous editions, we
have received positive and constructive feedback and suggestions from
pharmacists (undergraduate students, pre-registration trainees and practising
pharmacists) as well as formal reviewers and have tried to act on your suggestions.
We have continued to add more accounts by patients to our case studies. We
thank all the pharmacists who sent us comments and we hope you like the new
edition.
We once again thank Kathryn
Coates and her network of mums, who provided advice on the sort of concerns and
queries that they hope their pharmacists can answer.
Every working day, people
come to the community pharmacy for advice about minor ailments and symptoms.
Recent research found that the proportion of general practice and emergency
department (ED) consultations for minor ailments potentially suitable for
management in community pharmacy was around 13 and 5%, respectively.
Encouraging self-care is a good thing, and with increasing pressure on doctors’
and nurses’ workload, it is likely that the community pharmacy will be even
more widely used as a first port of call for minor illness. There are often
local initiatives to encourage this. Members of the public present to
pharmacists and their staff in a number of ways, which include
Every working day, people come to the community pharmacy
for advice about minor ailments and symptoms. Recent research found that the
proportion of general practice and emergency department (ED) consultations for
minor ailments potentially suitable for management in community pharmacy was
around 13 and 5%, respectively. Encouraging self-care is a good thing, and with
increasing pressure on doctors’ and nurses’ workload, it is likely that the
community pharmacy will be even more widely used as a first port of call for minor
illness. There are often local initiatives to encourage this. Members of the
public present to pharmacists and their staff in a number of ways, which
include
- Requesting advice about symptoms and appropriate treatment
- Asking to purchase a named medicine
- Requiring general health advice (e.g. about dietary supplements)
- Asking about effects/symptoms perceived to relate to prescribed medicines
The pharmacist’s role in responding to symptoms and
overseeing the sale of over-the-counter (OTC) medicines is substantial and
requires a mix of knowl-edge and skills in diseases and their treatment. In
addition, pharmacists are responsible for ensuring that their staff provide
appropriate advice and recom-mendations. Key skills are as follows:
- Differentiation between minor and more serious symptoms
- Listening skills
- Questioning skills
- Treatment choices based on evidence of effectiveness
- The ability to pass these skills on by acting as a role model for other pharmacy staff
