Pharmacy patient satisfaction surveys soon
Patients may soon be asked how well they think community pharmacies are delivering NHS pharmaceutical services.
Responding to a Department of Health announcement that a patient
satisfaction survey would determine whether GPs get £8,000 of their NHS pay,
the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee’s head of NHS
services, Alastair Buxton, said that he hoped that an announcement would
be made soon about surveys that pharmacies will have to carry out.
Mr Buxton said that there was no expectation that elements of pharmacy
remuneration would become dependent on measured levels of patient satisfaction,
but added: “Anything is possible at the end of the day.”
The idea that patients’ views of the quality of pharmacy services
should be sought was introduced as part of the new pharmacy contract
for England and Wales. One of the requirements of clinical governance (PDF 90K) — an
essential service that is mandatory for all contractors — is that
pharmacies must carry out annual patient satisfaction surveys based on
national templates and consider changes to improve service provision.
Contractors will be required to tell
their primary care trust or local health board what they intend to do
about the area
identified as offering the greatest potential for improvement. |
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Pharmaceutical Journal
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