21st May 2015
The Scottish government has set a challenging agenda for the future of its NHS: a 2020 vision seeks heightened access to quality general practice, particularly in rural areas. In a briefing paper from the Dispensing Doctors’ Association, the agenda seeks to enable “everyone...to live longer healthier...at home, or in a homely setting, and that Scotland will have a healthcare system where there is integrated health and social care and a focus on prevention, anticipation and supported self-management.”
Citing the Ballantrae Medical Practice, a first wave PMS* pilot located in the former Ayrshire Labour constituency, named MSPs and MPs have been told that dispensing practices, with their additional dispensary service offering, are best placed to help the NHS in Scotland to achieve its goals.
*Personal Medical Services (PMS) Agreements are locally-agreed alternatives to General Medical Service (GMS) for providers of general practice. Its defining feature is in its local nature: Negotiated between the PCO and the practice, a PMS is not subject to national negotiations between the Department of Health and the BMA.
Visit the Dispensing Doctors’ Association website to find out more: