For years the Government in the UK has been trying to control the the spiraling costs of health care inherent with any "free" government service. Once again like a third rate Doctor they chose to try to treat the symptom rather than the underlying disease, making the patient sicker over the long run. Imagine how long your going to have to wait to pick up your prescription at the pharmacy counter because the chemist is to busy looking at the sore throats and runny noses of the line of people going from the pharmacy counter out the door and down the street. Then because the chemist is to busy with patients the MP's will have the idea to hire Chemist assistance to do the real Chemists job. and of course they will have to hire more clerical people to get all the paperwork done, which will require a whole new layer of management. Or maybe creating a completely new Ministry is in order, perhaps we could call it the ministry of silly chemistry. They will need their own building....................
Chemists to relieve pressure on doctors
High-street chemists are to become “healthy living centres” providing a range of services, under plans outlined in a White Paper (David Rose writes). The NHS could save £3.5 billion in a decade if pharmacists, rather than doctors, diagnosed and treated minor illnesses such as colds, ministers believe.
Pharmacists could also provide flu vaccinations and tests for sexually transmitted infections, as well as health advice. GPs spend the equivalent of an hour a day dealing with minor ailments, equivalent to 57 million consultations a year. Chemists are expected to take care of half of these cases within three years.
