Current status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 28 October 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has reviewed what other NHS boards can learn from the pilot initiative in NHS Grampian that is focused on improving training for migraine management and promoting public awareness of migraine treatment options in community pharmacies, and what steps it is taking to assess the case for continuing this work.
The Migraine Trust were awarded £85,675 in 2022-23 through the Scottish Government Neurological Care & Support Framework, for work upskilling community, primary and secondary care pharmacists across NHS Grampian to help people with migraine manage their symptoms and treatments more effectively.
The Scottish Government funded an additional £135,501 in 2023-24 to further embed this work locally, and to partner with other Health Boards to extend the reach of pharmacists trained and increase care and support for people living with migraine based on the blueprint NHS Grampian approach.
We understand that a further six NHS Boards are working towards adopting this model of migraine care in future, including NHS Lanarkshire, NHS Lothian & NHS Tayside who have project teams in place with plans to undertake work with support from the NHS Grampian/Migraine Trust project team.
An eLearning programme for NHS Education for Scotland’s platform TURAS has been developed through the project. This comprises a suite of training materials available for all pharmacists and pharmacy teams in Scotland to access.
The project in Grampian has forged links with Robert Gordon University’s School of Pharmacy and Life Sciences with the aim of helping to shape students’ learning, towards create a sustainable change to the way migraine care is given.
We receive regular progress updates from the Migraine Trust and myself visited the project in August. We are discussing options with the Migraine Trust for further adoption of this approach to delivering care for people with migraine.