The Pharmaceutical Journal Vol 265 No 7106 p117
July 22, 2000 News

Patients want information from people, not paper, says Consumers' Association

A Consumers' Association report on patient information leaflets (PJ, July 1, p7) says that patients would prefer to get information on their illnesses and treatment from pharmacists and medical practitioners, rather than from manufacturers' leaflets. The report, based on interviews with patients, pharmacists and GPs, and on focus group meetings, says that patients do not see leaflets as an acceptable substitute for being given information from their doctors or pharmacists. This finding included patients who were dissatisfied with their relationship with the health professionals they met. In addition, it says that some patients are very concerned that PILs mark a shift of the core responsibility for providing medicines information away from health professionals. These patients want leaflets to confirm and acknowledge the role of pharmacists and doctors as key individuals with a significant role to play in medication decisions. Some think that leaflets give more information than they expect to get from their pharmacist or doctor and question whether they need that much information. Others, having seen the information given in leaflets are concerned that pharmacists and doctors might not actually know as much as they should.

Patients, pharmacists and GPs all say PILs could be better

Many patients, the CA says, would prefer to be given information leaflets by their pharmacists or doctors and to sit down with them and go through the leaflets together.
The report says that pharmacists support steps to give patients more information, but that there is concern about the information coming from manufacturers and that it is too complicated. The leaflets generate confusion and anxiety, they say, and need to be written in simple and clear language.
It adds that a common problem among pharmacists is trying to answer patients' questions without knowing the diagnosis.
The report says that pharmacists have a unique role to play in helping people take their medicines properly and that they are one of the most accessible sources of information.
"It may be that manufacturers should consider the lessons that can be learned from pharmacists' day-to-day experiences with patients in order to gain a better understanding of the specific problems that poorly performing patient leaflets can generate," the CA says.
It also calls for closer working arrangements between pharmacists and GPs to ensure that patients get the right information and to reduce prescribing errors.