New report supports expanded pharmacist roles
Pharmacy priorities
Respondents to the Health Which? survey identified the following
priorities for pharmacy:
More important
• Home delivery of medicines
• Longer opening hours
• A need for all pharmacies to have private consultation areas
• More point-of-care tests
Less important
• Telephone or e-mail advice from pharmacists
• Opening of new pharmacies
• Improving the quality of advice
• More lifestyle advice |
The public should “reap the benefits” of pharmacists redefining their roles, a Health Which? report has concluded.
A special investigation, including a survey of over 1,500 people, gauged
public opionion on the changing role of pharmacists. The findings are
published in the October issue of Health Which?.
Obtaining repeat prescriptions from pharmacists rather than doctors was
described as “a clear winner” with 78 per cent of people
thinking it is a good idea. Most people — 87 per cent — also
thought that medicines management was a good idea. Nearly 60 per cent
liked the idea of supplementary prescribing by pharmacists but people
who take medicines regularly were most resistant to this change.
The introduction of more e-pharmacy services split public opinion. Only
46 per cent were in favour of being able to buy medicines via mail order
or over the internet, but 59 per cent supported the idea of on-line advice
from pharmacists. Better information about pharmacy opening hours and
provision of support for smoking cessation were viewed favourably.
Altogether, 74 per cent of people thought that pharmacists are a trustworthy
source of advice about medicines. But fewer people sought general health
advice from pharmacists. Only 11 per cent had asked for such advice or
for an opinion on whether or not they needed to see a doctor and just
2 per cent had sought advice on point of care tests available at pharmacies
or for lifestyle advice. The report says that although people think pharmacists
are qualified to give health advice, certain barriers exist. Chief of
all is privacy. “A big factor that deters some people from seeking
a pharmacist’s advice is concern about being overheard by other
customers — a third of people told us that this put them off,” the
report notes.
Better access to pharmacy services was of high priority to many people.
A third of people surveyed wanted their medicines delivered to their
homes. Longer opening hours were wanted by 32 per cent of people. “If
pharmacists are to become an integral part of the primary care team then
their opening hours need to better reflect modern lifestyles,” the
report concludes.
In a second part of the investigation, a team of 20 researchers across
the UK searched for an open pharmacy at 7.30pm on a weekday and at 2pm
on a Sunday. They were successful in two-thirds of their attempts. Of
the 28 times that an open pharmacy was found, 12 of the pharmacies were
in supermarkets, nine were part of multiple chains and seven were independent
pharmacies. Researchers were more likely to find an open pharmacy in
urban than rural areas.
The researchers identified a particular problem with finding out which
pharmacies are open. Few pharmacies displayed information about the nearest
out of hours pharmacy, information was not always available in local
newspapers and the advice from NHS Direct was inconsistent. |
