Comparison of UK’s Minor Ailments Scheme and US’s retail clinic model: a narrative review

Abstract

There is a raising demand for unscheduled care in the United Kingdom. Minor Ailments Schemes (MAS) were introduced to reduce the burden of minor ailments on higher cost settings such as general practices and emergency departments. The number of visits for minor ailments at GPs often declined following the implementation of MAS. Retail clinics in America employ nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs) who can diagnose and treat minor illness, and minor injuries. Similar to the retail clinics, MAS can merge with walk-in centres. PAs and NPs can take over some primary care workload from pharmacists to prevent the pharmacists from being overwhelmed with all their current duties. MAS can also initiate the development of telehealth service to accommodate the home-bound patients. MAS must continue to change and evolve to meet the current and future demands of health care.