Impact of Pharmacy Based Travel Medicine with the Evolution of Pharmacy Practice in the UK

Abstract

Background: Pharmacy has utilised the changes in legislation since 2000 to increase the range and supply function of services such as travel health to travellers. With the number of travellers leaving the UK and trying new destinations there is an increasing need for more travel health provision. Working models: The models of supply of a travel health service vary according to the size of the corporate body. The large multiples can offer assessment via a specialist nurse or doctor service and then supply through the pharmacy. Others will undertake an onsite risk assessment and supply through the pharmacist. The sole Internet suppliers of medication have been reviewed and the assessment standards questioned following survey and inspection. Education: There is no dedicated pharmacist-training programme in advanced level travel health. As a consequence one academic institution allows pharmacists to train on a multidisciplinary course to obtain an academic membership. With training for travel health not being mandatory for any travel health supply function the concern is raised with standards of care. Future: There is a consultation paper on the removal of travel vaccines from NHS supply due to be decided in the future. If these vaccines are removed then they will provide a greater demand on pharmacy services. Discussion: The starting of a travel health service can be made without any additional training and remains unregulated, giving cause for concern to the supply made to the traveller. Conclusions: Pharmacies in the UK offer a range of options for supplying travel health services; however these need to be with improved mandatory training and supply.

Australian Pharmacists’ Perceptions and Practices in Travel Health

“…However, the scope of practice for South African pharmacists has expanded as a result of the down scheduling of some antimalarial drugs [ 11 ]. Similarly, within the UK, changes in the legislation providing pharmacists with a wider scope of practice to supply some prescription only medications combined with a 5% increase in the number of Britons travelling aboard has led to pharmacists having a greater role within a nationally funded travel health service [ 12 ]. Some of these current initiatives have been well received in the UK, with patients reporting that a pharmacy-run travel health service both met their needs and provided value for money [ 13 ].…”

“…This has already been adopted in some Canadian jurisdictions [ 2 ]. There are a number of different pharmacist prescribing models across the UK, USA and Canada, with pharmacists in all countries traditionally providing non-prescription drugs for traveller’s diarrhoea, motion sickness and sun and insect bite protection [ 2 , 10 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 ]. The well-established medication documentation systems of pharmacies could also play a role in assisting patients to maintain documentation on their vaccination history and while travel health consultations focus largely on infectious diseases, the impact of non-infectious causes of morbidity and motility during travel cannot be overemphasised and this again presents pharmacists with an opportunity for which they are already trained [ 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 ].…”

The Role of Community Pharmacists in Travel Health and Vaccination in Switzerland

“…Advice related to travel health in community pharmacies has not yet been included in similar national and cantonal strategies. The increasing number of travels abroad by Swiss citizens [2] might lead to the development of new activities in community pharmacies, related to this specific public health issue, as in the United Kingdom [18]. Currently, this activity represents a good opportunity for strengthening travellers’ safety, beyond vaccination issues.…”

Travel Medicine Curricula across Canadian Pharmacy Programs and Alignment with Scope of Practice

“…As a result of these scope expansions, an increasing number of pharmacists are providing pre-travel consultations and/or administering travel-related vaccinations nationwide. Similar scope expansions have been enacted in other countries, including the United States (e.g., travel vaccine administration in 86.3% of jurisdictions, and prescribing medications in 52.9% of jurisdictions, usually under a collaborative practice agreement) [8], Switzerland (e.g., administration of certain travel vaccines in 13 of 26 cantons) [9], and the United Kingdom (e.g., supplementary and independent prescribing) [10]. Furthermore, in the United Kingdom, the 2017 change in status of Maloff Protect ® (atovaquone/proguanil hydrochloride) for adult use from prescription to over-the-counter status has created additional opportunities for pharmacists there to provide care to travellers [11].…”