Pharmacy services need more effective promotion
Public perceptions of pharmacy need to be brought up to date to help patients make best use of the wide range of services pharmacies now offer. This was one of the key messages raised at the first evidence session of the All Party Pharmacy Group inquiry into the future of pharmacy, held in London last week.
Asthma UK and Which? both gave evidence at the session, which
was hosted by the APPG’s chairman Howard Stoate (Lab, Dartford),
Sandra Gidley (Lib Dem, Romsey) and Baroness Julia Cumberlege, former
Conservative
health minister and vice-president of the APPG.
Frances Blunden: consumer perceptions hinder pharmacy progress |
Frances Blunden, principal
policy adviser at Which?, said that consumer perceptions are one of the
main barriers to the advancement of pharmacy,
and that primary care trusts need to take a more active role in promoting
the new services that pharmacy can offer. The reconfiguration of PCTs
offers opportunities for them to enhance and develop their pharmacy expertise,
she said.
Ms Blunden also highlighted Which? research indicating that
pharmacies are not widely regarded as the natural first-stop for general
health care and advice for most customers, and
that customers have difficulty accessing pharmacies during the out-of-hours
period.
She also said that if pharmacists are to take on a more clinical role
they need to create an area in their pharmacy where patients feel comfortable
having blood taken and sharing personal information, for example. Despite
concerns about the lost income from taking up retail space with consultation
areas, she pointed out that the Office of Fair Trading notes that it
is the NHS contract that primarily makes community pharmacy profitable
as a business.
Turning to the control-of-entry regulations, Ms Blunden said that Which?
could not see any logic in defending them. Rather, Which? saw the regulations
as “negative measures that do little to address the key questions
of how to ensure high-quality, local pharmacy provision that gives good
access to patient-centred service for everyone who needs them, when they
need them.”
Simon Selo, assistant director, service development at Asthma UK, added
that a survey of 200 asthma patients carried out by Asthma UK earlier
this year showed that most asthma patients were unaware that their pharmacy
could carry out medicines use reviews.
The next evidence session of the inquiry is due to be held after the
Parliamentary summer recess. |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal
Acrobat
Reader