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Scotland
The Scottish contract and
new services
Community pharmacists
in Scotland have been working with their
new contract since April 2006. A phased
implementation is of services is in progress.
The contract is effectively a single tier,
consisting of four core services that all
community pharmacists must provide.
Structure of the contract:
The main part is the four core services,
namely, the Minor Ailment Service (eMAS),
the Acute Medication Service (eAMS), the
Chronic Medication Service (eCMS) and the
Public Health Service.
| Minor
ailment service Through the Minor
Ailment Service (eMAS), patients who
are exempt from prescription charges
are able to have minor conditions treated
free of charge in the pharmacy. To use
the service, patients will have to register
with a pharmacy. This is enabled by
an electronic central patient registration
system with each patient having their
own unique Community Health Index (CHI),
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Key
guide to eMAS & eAMS
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A quick summary of what you need
for eMAS & eAMS compliance:
- Connection
to N3
- PC running
windows
- 2000 or XP
Professional
- Dual bin laser
printer
- Compliant PMR
software
- Digital Certificate
- Appropriate
barcode scanner (s)
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Acute
medication service
The Acute Medication Service (eAMS), is
effectively what pharmacists do now. Patients
who have a prescription for an acute condition
will present it at the pharmacy of their
choice. The pharmacist scans the prescription
which is pulled down to the pharmacy in
electronic format from a service called
the Prescription Message Service (PMS).
The prescription will be dispensed and the
pharmacist will provide any advice needed.
Payment for this service is structured as
a monthly flat payment with a per-item-dispensed
supplement.
Chronic medication service The Chronic
Medication Service (eCMS), will also require
patients to register with a pharmacy. It
will enable a pharmacist to manage a patient's
long-term medication for up to 12 months.
Public health
service Within the public health service
(PHS), pharmacies will provide information
on public health issues and create public
health window displays. They will be expected
to participate in national and local public
health campaigns.
Additional
services On top of the core contract,
provision of additional services will be
agreed locally. However, the service specification
and payment tariff will be negotiated nationally,
although health boards can modify these
if they require "extras". Service
specifications currently being developed
cover oxygen supply, harm reduction services,
care home services, out-of-hours services
and waste collection.
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