GPs alarmed over NHS plans to allow chemists to prescribe statins

[Northerner]

Patients with high cholesterol could be diagnosed and given statins by pharmacists for the first time under NHS plans to cut the number of people dying from heart attacks and strokes.

If approved, the change in medical practice would lead to patients with the potentially fatal condition being diagnosed in high street chemists rather than in GP surgeries.

Someone a pharmacist suspects of having dangerously high levels of “bad” cholesterol could have a health check on the spot and receive the drugs without needing to get a prescription from a GP. However, it is unclear when and where they would have the blood test needed to accurately assess cholesterol levels.

https://www.theguardian.com/society...s-plans-to-allow-chemists-to-dispense-statins

 

[mikeyB]

But familial hypercholesterolaemia cant be diagnosed by pharmacists, the treatment can be very different. And in our village, the chippy is three doors down from the pharmacy. A twinge of guilt could send someone into the pharmacy after fish, chips and mushy peas.

There are far too many variables for pharamacists to initiate treatment with potent drugs. They should stick to colds and coughs.