What have people told us about their experiences with pharmacies?
Download (PDF 847.38 KB)Summary of report content
Healthwatch Kent and Healthwatch Medway undertook an analysis of their feedback from a mental health project about their experience of pharmacies. The report is based on 37 pieces of feedback.
Men and women are accessing pharmacies for different reasons and seem to have different experiences because of this. Women appear to be more likely to go to the pharmacy for a diverse range of issues such as receiving urgent prescriptions, antibiotics, medical advice and vaccinations and seem to be having positive experiences with this. Feedback from men did not reference Pharmacy First pathways, with 100% of feedback received from men mentioning medication dispensary, particularly noting stock issues and pharmacy closures as areas of concern.
Other negative experiences discussed challenges with arranging transport to pick up prescriptions that were not ready, despite having text notification that they were.
Trends seen with women and younger people having more positive experiences are not seen in feedback about other services and are unique insights into pharmacy services.
Compared to feedback about other services, younger women seem to have more positive experiences. This trend emerges post-Pharmacy First. This suggests that people have differing experiences due to their age and gender as they are going to the pharmacy for different reasons. •
Coordination of services seem to present barriers onto the effectiveness of the Pharmacy First scheme, with many people being sent to multiple services before receiving relevant treatment despite them going to the pharmacy first.