Two-thirds of adults unaware of high street pharmacy advice
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Up to 70 per cent of people are unaware that they can get certain common conditions treated in their local pharmacy, despite a Government drive to bring care closer to home, a new poll has found.
Commissioned by the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) and carried out by YouGov, the poll found that over-two thirds of adults in England were unaware that they could get treatments for shingles prescribed to them at their local pharmacy, without needing to go their GP first.
28 per cent thought they could not get this treatment at a pharmacy, whilst 42 per cent did not know.
Similarly, 37 per cent of women were unaware that their pharmacy could prescribe treatments for uncomplicated urinary tract infections (UTI’s) for women without needing to go to their GP first.
17 per cent of women polled thought they could not get UTI treatments prescribed at their pharmacy whilst 20 per cent did not know.
The NPA said there had been ‘significant steps forwards’ to ensure patients are aware of conditions available through pharmacies but more needs to be done to make sure people know about care that is available, as they launched their annual Ask Your Pharmacist campaign (2nd-9th November).
The poll did reveal strong public awareness of other conditions that pharmacists can now offer prescription treatments for through Pharmacy First. 88 per cent thought they could be prescribed treatments for sore throats by pharmacies on their own, and 79 per cent said they thought pharmacies could provide help with infected insect bites.
Ask Your Pharmacist Week is an annual, UK-wide, public awareness initiative, during which pharmacists display window posters, share their stories on social media and invite local dignitaries to visit to help publicise local health services.
An estimated 40 million people visited their pharmacy last year, analysis by the NPA of the polling data found.
Forty per cent of adults visited their pharmacy at least once a month, including 58 per cent of over 65-year-olds.
The role of pharmacies has transformed in recent years, with pharmacies taking on more services than ever before, some of which have only been available from other parts of the health system.
The government wants to expand the role of pharmacies further, providing more care closer to people's homes. Nearly 9 in 10 (87 per cent) backed more services being made available through their local pharmacy.
NHS services introduced in recent years include blood pressure checks for the over 40s, oral contraception and expanded medicines support for people with Parkinson’s disease, depression and osteoporosis.
NPA chief executive, Henry Gregg, said:
“Pharmacies are part of the NHS family and the range of clinical services provided by community pharmacies has expanded significantly in recent years.
“Although steps have been taken forwards to make people aware of the services offered in pharmacies, this data shows much more can be done to make sure people know they can get good care on their doorstep for a range of ailments.
“It’s clear that the public wants more services close to home, at their local pharmacies, which are a trusted and highly convenient part of the health service.
“With sufficient government investment, our sector can deliver a whole lot more support for long term conditions, prevent ill health with an expansion of the NHS vaccination programme and improve access to care for common illnesses, without the patient necessarily needing to see a GP.”
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