An ageing population is one reason GP surgeries are under so much strain and a combination of a shortage of new qualified medics and Edinburgh's increasing population is only deepening the problems.
It has long been recognised that local pharmacies are well placed to relieve some of the pressure and European countries have always allowed their pharmacists much more discretion to help people with minor ailments than has traditionally been the case here.
It's clear such medically trained professionals can make a bigger contribution to tackling serious but solvable NHS problems, if properly resourced.
If they had access to centralised electronic patient records, that would remove much of the need to go through the rigmarole of needing doctor approval for every repeat prescription.
And it would also avoid the risk of people picking up the same drug multiple times at different pharmacies, which is a major concern when it comes to potentially lethal painkillers.
And it might also prevent people getting easily available non-prescription treatments for free. When doctors are signing off gluten-free pizza bases on prescriptions when they are readily available in supermarkets, you know something has con badly wrong with the system.
