IRVINE’S MSP Ruth Maguire has called for pharmacists to be allowed to administer flu vaccinations in Scotland.
Unlike in England, highly qualified pharmacists are unable to administer flu vaccinations for the NHS – despite being well able to do so.
Cunninghame South MSP Ruth said: “We need to improve patient access to NHS flu jabs and it makes sense to do this without giving GPs extra work to do.
“Many community pharmacies already offer a private vaccination service so I support the idea of making NHS vaccines available through this route.”
The pharmacists maintain that allowing them to help administer the flu jabs would help significantly in getting much closer to target levels amongst the most vulnerable populations who qualify for the vaccination, such as the elderly, pregnant women and people with specific conditions.
This has prompted Community Pharmacy Scotland clinicians to take to the Scottish Parliament to show MSPs first-hand just how easily they could help, using a dummy medical arm, just in case nervous politicians found their aim was off.
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