The majority of pharmacists would be willing to supply emergency contraception over the counter if it were deregulated from POM to P legal status, a survey has shown. Seventy five per cent of respondents stated a willingness to be involved. However, more than half of this group said that they would need specific training before offering such a service. Although concerns were raised, these were mainly related to safety issues, with few pharmacists identifying moral and ethical barriers to deregulation.
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Many pharmacists said that they would need specific training before supplying OTC emergency contraception |
Sixty-two per cent of respondents were community pharmacists and 77 per cent worked in an environment where emergency contraception could be supplied. Of these, 96 per cent currently dispensed prescriptions for emergency contraception and 0.7 per cent (10 respondents) did not supply, exercising the professional conscience clause. Twenty-five per cent of respondents were unwilling to supply deregulated emergency contraception for a number of reasons, of which 53 per cent were safety or training concerns and 22 per cent were moral and ethical reasons.
The major benefits of deregulation were seen as being a reduced unwanted pregnancy rate and reduced abortion rate. Many respondents felt that supply through pharmacies would result in easier and quicker access to emergency contraception. Other perceived benefits included helping to raise the profile of the profession, reducing the burden on GPs and anonymity. Seven per cent of respondents (173) thought there was no major benefit in deregulating emergency contraception and 0.6 per cent (16) felt there was no need for deregulation.
Only 93 pharmacists (3 per cent) had no concerns regarding deregulation. Concerns expressed were predominantly in clinical and public health areas. Respondents were concerned that emergency contraception could be abused, perhaps through use as a regular method of contraception. A lack of access to medical histories, a fear of contraindications and a lack of monitoring and follow-up were other concerns. The procedures involved in supplying emergency contraception were also of concern, including a lack of pharmacist training, a lack of counselling and pharmacists being too busy to provide the service. Two per cent were fearful of litigation.
Dr Neil Cooper (University of East Anglia school of nursing and midwifery), one of the study authors said: "There has been a vocal minority of pharmacists speaking out against deregulation. We found that the overwhelming majority of the 1,500 we surveyed were in favour of supplying it themselves. This represents a real groundswell towards making [emergency contraception] more widely available."