Dr. Susan O'Dwyer:

A minor ailment is really just a condition that is minor in nature. It can resolve on its own so it is self-limiting, we often say. It can be relatively easily diagnosed in the community pharmacy setting and it can also be managed with either advice or treatments. A minor ailment scheme is where a patient would come to a community pharmacy. There would be an assessment of the symptoms and on foot of that assessment of symptoms you would always give advice, and self care advice, and there may be referral or there may be a supply of treatment. If you think about it as the assessment of the symptoms and the management of the condition that is being presented. This is something community pharmacists do every day. You make an assessment of those symptoms, you see if this is something that is mild and self-limiting and if it is not, if there are any red-flag symptoms then referral can happen.

Currently, we in pharmacy are restricted to the range of medicines that are currently available over the counter and we are also restricted to providing that service to people who have an ability to pay so it is not equitable in the number of people who can access the service and also the range of medicines. There are other medicines that are currently available on prescription that do treat minor self-limiting conditions and it would make sense to make those medications available. We spoke earlier about increasing access to contraception. It is the same mechanism, we believe. The medicinal products control and supply legislation has a Schedule 8 which is a list of medicines that can be supplied. They are prescription only but they can be supplied by a pharmacist in certain conditions.

Now, if someone has a medical card he or she will have to see a GP to get one of those over the counter medicines because it is not available to get free of charge in the community setting. Essentially, we would be talking about making that structured, having protocols in place and having very set criteria around when a treatment might be supplied and when it is not appropriate to be supplied. If you think about it as the assessment of symptoms, managing the condition and providing advice then you are taking a little bit away from the treatment and it is really about what is the most appropriate care for that patient.