This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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New community pharmacy for Dornoch
11/08/2004
A new model community pharmacy which aims to improve
health and increase access to health services in Dornoch
was opened today.
Mitchell's Chemist, on Dornoch High Street, has received
funding from the Scottish Executive to develop modern
facilities and will be used as an example of best practice
in order to improve access to services across Scotland.
Unveiling a plaque, Deputy Health Minister Tom McCabe
said:
"I am delighted to be here in Dornoch today to
officially open this model pharmacy.
"Among the investment priorities for NHSScotland there
is a commitment for modern health facilities in local
communities.
"In order to support our commitment to improving patient
access and extending the role of our pharmacists, community
pharmacy premises have been included in the Primary and
Community Care Premises Modernisation Programme.
"It is through this programme that the Scottish
Executive in partnership with the community pharmacists who
own this pharmacy has funded this particular
initiative.
"Community pharmacies are based in the heart of
communities, in rural as well as deprived inner city areas.
Often they are an essential part of life in these areas,
engaging with their communities and making a contribution
to the wider public health agenda.
"Through improved community pharmacy facilities, we have
a unique opportunity to increase the ways by which both
patients and the public access health services.
"Pharmacies present a familiar unthreatening environment
where advice and expertise on medicines and health care can
be delivered to the public at large.
"This model pharmacy, which offers two quiet areas and a
consultation room, will act as a pilot for new ways of
improving health and access to services and will, in turn,
help to identify best practice to roll out to other
pharmacies.
"Highland NHS Board and those behind the development of
this pharmacy should be congratulated.
"What we learn from the experience in Dornoch will be
vital and make a real difference to pharmacy-based patient
care in the future."
This model pharmacy in Dornoch was developed through a
£124,000 grant from the Scottish Executive and matched with
funding by the community pharmacy owners.
The Scottish Executive has had an ongoing programme to
support improvements in community pharmacy premises.
* £1.5 million to date has been invested to provide
private consultation areas in pharmacies and to help meet
Disability Discrimination Act requirements as part of the
annual remuneration package.
* A further £0.62 million has been invested from the
£52 million Primary Care Modernisation Programme to develop
10 community pharmacies in order to allow them to deliver
new roles and provide new services. The Mitchells Chemist
in Dornoch is part of this programme.
The premises funding has supported the development of a
consultation room, two fully fitted treatment rooms, an
automatic front door and a lift between the first two
floors of the building, allowing the upper floor to be
utilised to extend the premises and the services offered. A
suitably sited confidential counselling area is
incorporated in the lower floor, with IT links, networked
patient medication record access and accessible health
promotion materials. The pharmacy has disabled access and
parking facilities, meeting Disability Discrimination Act
requirements.
A wide range of improved health and complementary
services are now available which improve access not only
within the local community but to a wider remote and rural
part of Scotland. These services include harm reduction
services, such as needle exchange and methadone supervision
for local drug misusers and health promotion services, for
example smoking cessation.
In addition there are opportunities for other
practitioners to deliver out-reach services from the
pharmacy premises.
The Scottish Executive is currently negotiating a new
contract for Pharmaceutical Care Services (PCS).
Discussions to date have concentrated on the shape and
content of the contract, including IM&T requirements.
One element of this will reflect health improvement and
another infrastructure such as pharmacy premises that are
fit for purpose.