Variation within community pharmacy. 2. Responding to the presentation of symptoms

Paul Bissell, Paul Ward, Peter R Noyce

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

29 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This paper considers aspects of the management of minor ailments in a sample of ten pharmacies in the UK. On average, around five customers per day presented with symptoms in each pharmacy - a lower figure than has been reported elsewhere. We postulate that the lower level of presentations is a function of the high level of exemptions from prescription charges in the study area (93.2 per cent of all NHS prescribed items were exempt from payment). We also highlight the central role played hy counter assistants in providing advice and making in-store referrals, and the high level of variation between pharmacies in terms of which member of staff managed symptom presentations. These data suggest that the appropriate supervision of staff is an important issue for the pharmacy profession to address. Finally, we present evidence of the wider social care function of the pharmacy - hitherto an unrecognised dimension of the extended role.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)105-115
Number of pages11
JournalJournal of Social and Administrative Pharmacy
Volume14
Issue number2
Publication statusPublished - 1997
Externally publishedYes

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