In recent years there have been moves by the government and pharmaceutical bodies to promote the role of the pharmacist in treating minor ailments. This should contribute to a reduction of the drug budget for the NHS and also allow General Practitioners (GP) time to deal with more serious cases. GPs have been encouraged to liaise with pharmacists on this issue. There have been mixed reactions to the role of the pharmacist treating minor ailments; some bodies have felt that pharmacists perform poorly when advising patients on minor ailments, whilst others have felt that the range of minor ailments that a pharmacist can treat should be expanded.

The aim of this study was to look at the attitudes of general practice staff towards the pharmacist's role in treating minor ailments and whether they would consider referring such patients to a pharmacist. The attitudes of staff in six surgeries were examined. The first surgery participated in a focus group concerning pharmacists treating minor ailments. From the results of this focus group semi-structured questionnaires were designed for administration to staff in the other five surgeries.

Generally, surgery staff were positive about pharmacists treating minor ailments believing that it would save time for the doctor to deal with more urgent cases, save the NHS money and prevent patients coming to the surgery for unnecessary emergency appointment. Contrary to previous studies, 3 out of the 5 GPs interviewed felt that sometimes pharmacists referred patients unnecessarily and that this could be a hindrance.

Opinions were divided as to whether surgery staff would refer a patient to the pharmacist for the treatment of a minor ailment. Many practices had a policy stating that receptionists were not allowed to advise patients who called the surgery. However 11 out of 18 receptionists interviewed did actually advise patients contrary to practice policy.

Further work is required on the practice of receptionists giving advice to patients regarding minor ailments and possible consideration given to their training. Future work should also identify specifically whether GPs find pharmacists refer patients unnecessarily. Improved communication between the pharmacist and general practice surgery staff may help overcome some of the problems identified in the study.