Healthwatch York report identifies opportunity for more people to benefit from health advice at Community Pharmacies 

Healthwatch York on Monday 26 February has published a report outlining people’s experiences of accessing community pharmacies for a range of support and services.  

The report, ‘Community Pharmacy’ supported by Healthwatch North Yorkshire to hear from people across North Yorkshire and York finds a generally positive view of people for their local pharmacy. Almost 60% of respondents use their pharmacy on a monthly basis, most often to pick up prescriptions, then to buy medication and other things. Pharmacies across York and North Yorkshire dispense 1.25 million items every month.  

Just over 50% of respondents rated their pharmacy as excellent or very good with just over a fifth saying the service is poor. Some of the issues raised were the time taken to get a prescription and that medications were not always available.  

More than half (52.1%) of respondents turn to GP practices first for health advice, nearly a third (31.9%) look on the internet and fewer than a quarter of respondents (21.3%) go to pharmacies for healthcare advice. 

Siân Balsom, Manager at Healthwatch York, reflected: “We were disappointed to see fewer than a quarter of respondents use their local pharmacy for healthcare advice. This reflected feedback in our recent Urgent Care report where only 3% of respondents had been to their local pharmacy before going to the Urgent Treatment Centre.  

“Community pharmacies play a vital role in delivering primary care and can help to reduce pressures on the NHS including local A&E services. With the introduction of Pharmacy First, under which pharmacies can now prescribe treatment for seven common health conditions, people should always try their pharmacy before their GP or other service. 

“We encourage people to start with their local pharmacy for healthcare advice. But to make sure pharmacies can deliver a full range of services, they must be fully funded.” 

Community Pharmacy North Yorkshire added: “We are excited about the opportunities Pharmacy First presents to pharmacies to take up their rightful place in easing the current pressures on other NHS services.” 

The report is available at: https://www.healthwatchyork.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Final-Community-pharmacy-survey-report.pdf