| Community pharmacists in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, are involved in
the initiative which has been launched as part of this month’s “Pop
down your local” campaign by Developing Patient Partnerships — the
national organisation devoted to improving the relationship between health
professionals and their patients.
Rotherham PCT’s campaign flyer: “Men
and pharmacy”
The “Men and pharmacy” campaign flyer contains the
following information:
Did you know that
· Heart disease causes 22 per cent of deaths in men less than 75
years?
· Lung cancer accounts for 27 per cent of all deaths caused by
cancer in men?
· 15 to 20 per cent of men in the UK report chronic cough and phlegm
production?
· Diabetes and smoking are just two of many causes of erectile
dysfunction?
But
· Many factors that increase risk of coronary heart disease can
be controlled
· Stopping smoking decreases your chances of developing lung cancer
significantly
· Chronic lung diseases can be managed successfully if diagnosed
correctly
· Erectile dysfunction can now be treated in several ways
So
· Simple lifestyle changes and education can improve your health
significantly
· Your community pharmacist can often sort problems with disease
management including medication
· The sooner you bring up the problem the sooner it can be sorted
out
If the answer is “no” to any of
the following questions it may be time to ask about your medicines
Do you know
· What medicines you are taking and why?
· How and when to take them?
· Whether or not any of your medicines react with each other, or
food or alcohol?
So ask your pharmacist
· What does this medicine do?
· How long will I need to use it?
· When should I take it?
· Should I avoid any other medicines, drinks, foods or activities
when I am taking this medicine?
· What are the possible risks and side effects and what should
I do if they happen to me? |
Patient information flyers (see Panel) are being distributed either
attached to prescriptions for male patients or included in the paper
bag when
customers buy over-the-counter medicines at the pharmacy. The flyers
suggest that men discuss any health issues they may have with their community
pharmacist. A short quiz for men to discover whether they need more information
about their medicines, with the suggestion they should talk to the pharmacist,
also appears on the flyer. The quiz is based on the questions that were
included in the Government-backed “Ask about medicines week” campaign last October.
Posters advertising the “Pop down your local” campaign and
general health promotion leaflets, including details of the Government’s
five-a-day healthy diet programme, have also been distributed to the
46 Rotherham pharmacies involved in the campaign.
At the same, time two health promotion stalls, suggesting how community
pharmacists can help men with issues such as sexual health or sports
injuries, have been set up at a local further education college and in
a healthy living centre.
Untapped source of information
Rotherham primary care trust prescribing support pharmacist Isobel
Bancroft developed the scheme which is being evaluated with the help
of pharmacy
technician Michael Rodgers. Mrs Bancroft said: “We want to be
able to point men in the direction of their local pharmacist if they
need health advice. Community pharmacists are really an untapped source
of health information and can advise about most health needs. And if
they can’t help then they can refer to another health professional
who can.”
She said community pharmacists were in a good position to offer health
advice because patients sometimes felt they were more approachable than
a GP and no appointment was required.
Mrs Bancroft added: “The pharmacy isn’t such a formal environment
as a GP consulting room and a lot of pharmacies now have an area where
they can offer confidential health advice. There is so much that a pharmacist
can be doing now in the community — their role is really expanding
and it’s important that we can draw patients’ attention to
the work they can do in health promotion at the same time improve the
profile of the community pharmacist.”
Community pharmacist Jonathan McGill, whose Wath-Upon-Dearne pharmacy
has been involved in the scheme, said getting involved in health promotion
was a role which the profession has coveted for years.
He said: “Linking pharmacy with health promotion recognises the
contribution which pharmacists can play and I think that recognition
is going to take us a long way. It is something which we have craved
for a long time. We have always said that we can do these things and
now that message is getting home.”
He said the scheme was valuable because it targeted young men. He added: “Highlighting
the health risks for young men and offering them advice on lifestyle
changes is a development because in the past it is something we have
done with older male patients when they pick up their prescriptions.
That is perhaps the wrong way round because we should be getting these
messages across to healthy young men.” Increasing pharmacists’ role
Keith Boughan, associate director of the Wentworth locality in the
PCT, said he hoped the men’s health initiative was only the beginning
of the move towards increasing the role of pharmacists in the community.
He said: “I think some patients have needed to be convinced that
doctors are not the only people to deliver health care and health advice,
and I think this initiative has given pharmacists a significant opportunity
to become more involved in the process.
“
Men generally don’t like to be seen to be going to the doctors
but this scheme gives them the chance to go to see the pharmacist instead
and have a discussion over the counter or in private, as many pharmacists
now have consulting rooms as well.”
This view was shared by Kristin McCarthy, director of the DPP, which,
together with the Royal Pharmaceutical Society and other organisations,
launches the “Pop down your local” campaign on April 29.
She said: “The accessible and confidential services offered by
pharmacists are ideal for men seeking on-the-spot advice for minor ailments
as well as general health and lifestyle information.”
Mrs Bancroft added: “Historically, I think men feel they don’t
need to or don’t like going to the doctor, and although I think
may be that is changing with the younger generation, there is still this
issue about men accessing health services.”
The Rotherham initiative has cost around £500 and could easily
be copied by other primary care trusts, she said. “It’s not
expensive and I think it is part of my responsibilities as a prescribing
support pharmacist. It’s not rocket science.”
Mr McGill agreed: “It’s dirt cheap — it’s a gift.” |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal