The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 268 No 7196 p624-625
4 May 2002

This article
Reprint
Photocopy

Health Services Research and Pharmacy Practice summary

Belfast consumers "willing to pay" for medicine risk services

Quantifying the economic value of pharmacy services is important for the pharmacy profession.

Grainne Crealey and colleagues from the Queen's University of Belfast reported a pilot study to measure consumers' willingness to pay for community medicines management services. Willingness to pay was assessed in a structured street interview with 101 people in Belfast shopping areas. Just over 30 per cent had a chronic illness and around half were currently taking at least three medicines. Nine per cent said they had had a drug-related problem in the past year. Most agreed that the pharmacist was an expert in medicines, but only one in five would ask the pharmacist rather than the doctor about a drug-related problem. The average "willingness to pay" for a reduction in risk of a drug-related problem was £18.60. Almost a third of people suggested £25 or more for a 20 to 30 minute consultation.