Minor ailment scheme doesn't provide free Calpol for all

"Thousands discover Calpol has been free on NHS 'for years' as mum's Facebook post goes viral," the Daily Mirror reports. This and other similar headlines were prompted by a post made on the social networking site Facebook. In the post, it was claimed that all medicines for children were available for free on the NHS as part of the minor ailment scheme. "I was in Boots yesterday buying Calpol and happened to complain to the cashier how expensive it is. She told me, to my amazement, that if you register your details with them under the minor ailments scheme that all medicines for children are free – a scheme that has been going for eight years." The post went viral, being "shared" and "liked" more than 100,000 times in the space of a few days. But there are a number of inaccuracies both in the Facebook post and in the media's reporting of the story.  What is the minor ailment scheme? The minor ailment scheme is designed to enable people with minor health conditions to access medicines and advice they would otherwise visit their doctor for. It allows patients to see a qualified health professional at a convenient and accessible location within their community, and means patients do not need to wait for a GP appointment or queue up for a valuable A&E slot with a non-urgent condition. Childhood ailments that may be treated under the scheme include: colds coughs diarrhoea earache hay fever head...
Source: NHS News Feed - Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Medication Medical practice QA articles Source Type: news