New pharmacy scheme will help terminally ill children

Terminally ill local children ate to benefit from a new service.

Fourteen community pharmacies in the Forth Valley area are taking part in a new NHS Forth Valley and Children’s Hospices Across Scotland (CHAS) Community Pharmacy Network, the first of its kind for children in the UK.

The community network, which aims to support babies, children and young people (aged 0 to 21 years) with lifeshortening conditions and their families will be piloted until December 2020. It provides access to specialist medicines and paediatric palliative care advice in the community.

The 14 community pharmacies in Forth Valley, all of which are part of the existing adult palliative care network, will be regularly evaluated.

Specialist Palliative Care Pharmacist at NHS Forth Valley Anne Wilson said: “Inspiration for the CHAS Community Pharmacy Network came from two existing adult services that operate across Scotland, namely the NHS Forth Valley Palliative Care Community Pharmacy Network and the Scottish

Palliative Care Pharmacists Association (SPCPA). “Children should have timely access to palliative care medicine and the 14 community pharmacists who are participating in the network are spread geographically across ForthValley.

“They will hold key medication for palliative paediatric patients and help with any questions parents might have.

“The impact a community pharmacist can have on these patients in Forth Valley is extremely significant.”

Once the Community

Pharmacy Network has been established within Forth Valley, CHAS aims to spread this network across Scotland.

CHAS is the only charity in Scotland that provides hospice services for babies, children and young people with life-shortening conditions.

The national charity offers palliative care and respite for the whole family via its two hospices, Rachel House in Kinross and Robin House in Balloch, and via its CHAS at Home service - supporting families in their own homes.