Pharmacists need to use professional judgement

摘要

I suspect Nadim Ali is being slightly mischievous in trying to portray such a bleak picture of the Scottish Minor Ailment Scheme (PJ, 8 March, p273).If he is being serious, I would like to remind him that with the right to prescribe comes increased responsibility and a need for professional judgement to be exercised. If he complies meekly with customers presenting "shopping lists" then a great disservice is being done to his colleagues in community pharmacy, who often have to lower the public's perceptions of what the scheme is all about.