Views on community pharmacy services
Download (PDF 611.2 KB)Summary of report content
Healthwatch Together are working with colleagues from Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board, Blackpool Council, Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council and Lancashire County Council to hear about residents’ experiences of accessing community pharmacy services. They undertook a survey to which 254 people responded.
The most frequent reasons given by residents for visiting a pharmacy were: -
- To get a prescription for myself
- To get a prescription for someone else
- To buy medicines for myself
This visit usually takes place monthly and the preferred time for visiting was between 5pm and 8pm followed by ‘I don’t have a preference’ and the majority of respondents do not have preference for the day they visit, followed by weekdays in general.
The key factors which influence residents’ choice of pharmacy were: -
- Close to home
- Close to GP surgery
- It is easy to get to the pharmacy.
- It is easy to park at the pharmacy.
Most residents travelled to the pharmacy by car, although a high number also walked to the pharmacy and the journey took 5-15 minutes.
There was a good awareness of Pharmacy First amongst residents, however the majority of respondents had not taken up this service.
The majority of respondents rated their pharmacy as ‘Excellent’ or ‘Good’ with only eight people rating it as ‘Poor’ or ‘Very poor.’