News: Women rate pharmacists for EHC service

The Pharmaceutical Journal Vol 267 No 7166 p373-376
22 September 2001

Women rate pharmacists for EHC service

Two-thirds of women who have used more than one emergency hormonal contraception (EHC) service say that the pharmacy service is better than the others. This was one of the findings of a first-year evaluation of an EHC service in Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham Health Action Zone, in which pharmacists supply EHC under a patient group direction (PGD).

A total of 6,294 women have accessed the service during the past year and 94 per cent were supplied with EHC. Nearly all users (98 per cent) were satisfied with the manner in which the pharmacists dealt with their query. Beth Taylor, pharmacy manager, Community Health South London NHS Trust, described the project as “outstandingly successful”. She said: “The high levels of both user and pharmacist satisfaction show that this scheme has proved itself as an important new addition to family planning services.”

The evaluation revealed that 68 per cent of women accessed the service within 24 hours of having unprotected sex. The evaluation report notes that it is considered likely that this is a higher proportion than for any other EHC provider. Women were more likely to use the service over the weekend and on Mondays, when access to other clinics and general practitioners is difficult or perceived to be difficult.

The PGD was introduced to increase awareness of and access to EHC because Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham has higher than average conception and termination rates over all age groups compared with other areas of England and Wales. In particular, the area has one of the highest rates of teenage pregnancy in the country. However, the project failed to target a large number of teenagers.

Of the women who used the service, most were aged between 20 and 30 years. Only 2 per cent were aged under 16 years and 14 per cent were aged between 16 and 19 years. Ms Taylor said that these figures reflected the proportion of women who were sexually active. The figures mirror the pattern in numbers of women seeking termination according to age. The problem of attracting teenagers to the service will be tackled by an information campaign targeting younger teenagers that is to be launched across London next month and by a teenage pregnancy co-ordinator appointed in the health action zone.

Concerns over privacy were highlighted by 23 per cent of patients and 24 per cent were concerned about the confidentiality of their enquiries. The report recommends that ways to ensure that pharmacists develop private areas for consultation be considered.

The evaluation report can be found on Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham Health Action Zone’s website (www.lslhaz.org.uk) or obtained from Sue Cook, pharmacy project manager, Community Health South London NHS Trust (tel 020 7771 5006, email sue.cook@chsltr.sthames.nhs.uk).