The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 277 No 7431 p724
16 December 2006

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Other professions trust pharmacy

Pharmacists are among the providers of advice on medicines and side effects that are most trusted by other health care professionals, according to research carried out by Ipsos MORI on behalf of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.

The aim of the research was to discern and quantify the perceptions of the general public and health care professionals about the risks and benefits associated with medicines and medical devices, and how well they are regulated and communicated in the UK.

Pharmacists were consistently in the top three most trusted sources of information about the risks and benefits of medicines among health care professionals, including GPs, hospital physicians, surgeons and nurses. Among the least trusted sources were pharmaceutical companies, health campaigning groups and patient organisations, and the general media.

Pharmacists were also trusted by 64 per cent of members of the public to provide this type of information.