Patients want longer pharmacy opening hours
Extended opening and repeat prescriptions are priorities for patients |
Extending the opening hours of community pharmacies and improving repeat
prescription systems are patients’ priorities for boosting their
access to medicines, according to a report
published this week by the consumer magazine Which?
The report also reveals that patients are confused about the reclassification
of medicines and want any change in status introduced with “provisions
for checks and balances”, researchers discovered.
Of the 1,026 patients questioned for the Which? report, 71 per
cent wanted a pharmacist to advise and monitor them if their medicines
were reclassified so they could be sold over the counter. And 60 per cent
said they would be “unhappy” and another 25 per cent “strongly
opposed” to reclassification if it was not backed up with support
and advice from a pharmacist.
There was little support from the public for buying medicines over the
internet or by mail order because of the inherent health risks created
by a lack of controls, the researchers found.
The report, “Which Choice? medicines”, said: “There
was little sense in our research that consumers are pushing against the
degree of control and restrictions currently placed on medicines access.
“On the contrary they feel safer if checks and controls are in place.”
The report, written by Which? senior policy officer Kate Webb,
also highlighted its own concern about the number of medicines being switched
from prescription to pharmacy status.
It said:“We have concerns that this process is being driven by inappropriate
targets, without due consideration of public health needs of a satisfactory
level of safety and efficacy
data.”
Theo Raynor, professor of pharmacy practice at the University of Leeds
and a member of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency
working party on patient information, said:“I don’t think
it’s surprising that people are not completely clear about how we
can transfer a drug from a prescription-only to an OTC. I think there
is quite possibly an information need there that needs to be addressed
and maybe that is something that the working party could look at. I don’t
think the message is that we should stop transferring medicines.”
The Proprietary Association of Great Britain said two reports by itself
and the Department of Health both conclude that patients trust OTC medicines
and their pharmacist. PAGB chief executive Sheila Kelly said:“The
safeguards called for [in the Which? report] are already in place
in the Medicines Act, which the PAGB and its companies support and adhere
to. If Which? is asking that regulations be changed we should
sit down and look at this together.” |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal
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