ePharmacy - MAS

Minor Ailment Service (MAS)

Description and Timescales of Minor Ailment Service

A full description of the Minor Ailment Service is available as part of the <NES Pharmacy Implementation pack>

All CPs were entitled to start patient registrations for MAS from 01/06/06. All registrations must be made electronically using the eMAS software.

Consultations for MAS have commenced from 01/07/06. Outside of AA and Tayside HBs any consultations submitted by CPs prior to 01/07/06 will not be paid.

The Minor Ailment Service (MAS) allows patients, who are exempt from prescription charges, to register with and use a community pharmacy as the first port of call for the treatment of common illnesses on the NHS. The pharmacist advises, treats or refers the patient according to their needs.

People who are exempt from prescription charges can register with the community pharmacy of their choice to receive the MAS. The pharmacist registers a person via the Central Patient Registration System (CPRS) using their Community Health Index (CHI) number. Registration is either done in advance of requiring to use the service or at the time when required. A check is made on each presentation that the person is still eligible for the MAS.
The registration form contains both demographic details and the exemption status of the patient. It is submitted to Practitioner Services via an electronic registration message generated but a CP2 form is still printed as a placeholder for the patient’s signature.  The signature confirms the patient’s eligibility for the service (i.e. their exemption status) and their consent to take part in the service. A manual A4 registration form is available for use in exceptional circumstances (e.g. technology failure).

The signing of the registration form means that the patient is able to receive care via the Minor Ailment Service even if the registration process is not complete (for example confirmation of their registration has not been received from the PRS). The principle applied to the service is that reimbursement for items will be authorised even if subsequently the patient’s registration is not successful.  

Once a patient has registered with their community pharmacy (see above paragraph) they can present at any point with symptoms and the pharmacist, having ascertained whether the patient is still eligible to use the service, will treat, advise or refer them to another health care practitioner where appropriate.

When the pharmacist decides that the most appropriate action is to treat the presenting condition/s then they will then decide on the course of treatment they wish to recommend for the patient. This is done using a national formulary. The pharmacist receives a capitation fee and any associated reimbursement costs for the product supplied in the same way as for a product supplied on a GP10, minus the dispensing fee. 
 
eMAS will support MAS by providing electronic support at key points in the MAS process.  It will do this by utilising the ePharmacy infrastructure to allow electronic data (messages) to be made available between the participating systems to provide timely clinical, statistical and payment information.

Supporting Documentation for Community Pharmacists

A checklist for eMAS readiness has been produced for all Champions and Pharmacists. A copy of this checklist is available here.

As part of the contract negotiations, the SEHD and SPGC have agreed the final outline specification for the Minor Ailments Service. A copy of the agreed specification is available to download here.

MAS Documents

Presentations

Generic MAS Presentation
Issued 16th May 2007

eMAS Walkthrough Presentation
12 March 2006

(Please note that they may take some time to download.)

Minor Ailment Service Publicity Material

Ordering Additional Patient Leaflets and Posters/Translated Versions