Statement: Pharmacy Conf – call for greater role for pharmacists

Public want greater role for pharmacists – new survey

9 out of 10 adults want to see an expanded role for pharmacists.
Pharmacists should be given a greater role in the health services.

Friday, 27 April 2012. A major new survey by the Irish Pharmacy Union (IPU) confirms that 9 out of 10 Irish adults want pharmacists to be given a greater role in the health services. The survey strengthens the call regularly made by pharmacists who believe that they can play an expanded role in the delivery of community based healthcare.

The survey is published on the first day of the IPU National Pharmacy Conference, which takes place in Galway starting this evening [Friday]. It was carried out by Behaviour & Attitudes and is based on research amongst 1,000 people aged 16 years or older in a national representative sample.
Key findings include:

90% of the public want to see pharmacists offering health screening services such as blood pressure testing and cholesterol testing;
92% of the public are in favour of the pharmacist being able to prescribe some medicines for minor ailments
95% trust the advice and patient care they get from their pharmacist.
88% believe that pharmacists should be allowed to offer cheaper, equivalent generic medicines, where they are available and safe for the patient to use.
70% agreed that they sometimes relied on the advice of their pharmacist before visiting their GP
45% of the adult population have visited a pharmacy within the past week.
79% rate the quality of professional service from their pharmacist as “very good”.

Speaking today, incoming President of the Irish Pharmacy Union, Rory O’Donnell said the survey results confirmed the trust and confidence of the Irish public in their local pharmacists.

“As health planners struggle to get more value for money, there is a real opportunity to expand the traditional role of pharmacists and to improve the interaction between pharmacists and the general public. Pharmacists already do a lot but there is huge scope to expand the role further and to do so in a very cost effective manner. ”

Further Information:

ray@gordonmrm.ie/maria@gordonmrm.ie