On the occasion of World Pharmacists Day, an overview of the daily care that can be carried out in pharmacies, from vaccination to teleconsultation and first aid care.
- They are able to vaccinate against the flu.
- Teleconsultations can be carried out in pharmacies.
- They might be able to vaccinate Covid-19.
Too often, the pharmacist’s role has been limited to preparing and dispensing medical prescriptions. For several years, their framework has expanded. The current health crisis has only amplified this phenomenon. They are among the frontline caregivers facing the epidemic. “When medical offices are in teleconsultation, when patients avoid the hospital, the pharmacist is more than ever the health referent to whom we turn for our daily pathologies, but also for concerns around Covid.”, declared Carine Wolf-Thal, president of the National Council of the Order of Pharmacists, to 20 minutes.
A role accentuated by the health crisis
Among the recent new prerogatives of pharmacists is the possibility of vaccinating people over 65 against the flu, since 2019. But they want to go even further. “My fight this year is to be able to carry out all the reminders of vaccines in pharmacies, according to the strategy defined by the public authorities.”, informed Philippe Besset, president of the professional union FSPF, to the echoes.
Since the beginning of the health crisis, they have been able to renew prescriptions in the event of chronic illness to avoid patients having to go through the doctor’s box, or even deliver the drug allowing women, after teleconsultation, to carry out a voluntary interruption of pregnancy. Two prerogatives which must remain transitional, according to the Order of Pharmacists. The pharmacist is also on the front line against domestic violence. Since the end of March, they have been able to call law enforcement if a patient asks.
Central pivot of proximity care
From now on, pharmacies are also places where teleconsultation is possible. Teleconsultations have increased from 1% to 11% of medical appointments since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. In this outbreak, pharmacists are playing their role since teleconsultations are possible in equipped pharmacies. There, a doctor can be reached in less than three minutes, with or without an appointment.
This option is part of the government program “My health 2022” where the pharmacist appears as “the central pivot of proximity care”, indicated Arnault Billy, general manager of Maiia, the teleconsultation system. In this sense, the Scientific Council indicated, in a joint opinion issued in July with Care and the Covid-19 Vaccine Committee, that “the organization of the vaccination must be carried out as close as possible to the people concerned” and quotes pharmacists, alongside general practitioners and nurses.
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