Medicine-related services in community pharmacy: public preferences for pharmacy attributes and promotional methods and comparison with pharmacists’ perceptions

Figures & data

Table 1 Demographic characteristics of public and pharmacist respondents

Public respondents	Number (%)
Gender (n=999)
Female	526 (52.7)
Male	473 (47.3)
Age group (years; n=1,000)
<34	280 (28.0)
35–64	502 (50.2)
65 and older	218 (21.8)
Ethnicity (n=985)
White	712 (72.3)
Other ethnicities	273 (27.7)
Deprivation status (n=920)
1 (highest)	157 (17.1)
2	166 (18.0)
3	172 (18.7)
4	223 (24.2)
5 (lowest)	202 (22.0)
Educational level (n=992)
None/primary/secondary	314 (31.7)
Further education	359 (36.2)
Bachelor/higher degree	319 (32.2)
Use of prescribed medicines (n=1,000)
None	395 (39.5)
≤4	376 (37.6)
5–8	172 (17.2)
>8	57 (5.7)
Use of pharmacies (n=999)
More than once a month	136 (13.6)
Once a month	373 (37.3)
Once every 2/3 months	258 (25.8)
Less than every 3 months	91 (9.1)
Never use/do not know	141 (14.1)

Pharmacist respondents	Number (%)
Gender (n=338)
Female	179 (53.0)
Male	159 (47.0)
Role in pharmacy (n=340)
Manager/sole pharmacist	269 (79.1)
Second pharmacist	22 (6.5)
Locum	36 (10.6)
Superintendent	13 (3.8)
Type of pharmacy (n=340)
Large chain (≥31 pharmacies)	223 (65.6)
Medium chain (11–30)	19 (5.6)
Small chain (2–10)	33 (9.7)
Single pharmacy	65 (19.1)

Table 2 Agreement with desirability of different attributes of pharmacies, staff, and practices expressed by the public and community pharmacists

Pharmacy attribute	Proportion of respondents						P-value (chi-squared test)
	Public preferences (n=1,000)			Pharmacist perceptions (n=341)
	Agree	Do not mind	Disagree	Agree	Do not mind	Disagree
Pharmacy characteristics
Prefer to use same pharmacy every time	66.4	29.3	4.2	87.7	9.8	1.5	<0.001
Prefer a pharmacy owned by large company	33.2	45.3	21.4	9.5	53.1	37.4	<0.001
Prefer a pharmacy owned by a pharmacist working there	26.6	56.5	16.8	22.6	50.9	26.2	0.002
Prefer a pharmacy in a supermarket	20.6	40.4	38.9	3.9	47.5	48.7	<0.001
Prefer a pharmacy near where I/they live	83.7	11.4	4.8	95.3	3.3	1.5	<0.001
Prefer a pharmacy near work	57.4	28.2	14.4	60.9	34.6	4.5	<0.001
Prefer a pharmacy near the GP’s surgery	79.9	15.4	4.7	72.8	20.4	6.9	0.023
Need a pharmacy open in the evening	74.6	21.4	4.0	42.4	45.7	11.9	<0.001
Need a pharmacy open on Saturdays	76.7	20.6	2.7	63.8	29.4	6.8	<0.001
Need a pharmacy open on Sundays	62.7	27.0	10.2	29.1	49.3	21.7	<0.001
Pharmacy staff
I/patients recognize the pharmacist	59.1	34.6	6.4	91.8	7.0	1.2	<0.001
The pharmacist knows me/patients	55.6	36.3	8.1	85.5	12.7	1.8	<0.001
Pharmacy staff know me/patients	45.9	44.8	8.4	81.2	14.4	1.5	0.013
Pharmacist is same gender as me/patient	21.6	59.7	18.8	12.9	62.5	24.6	0.001
Pharmacist appears approachable	87.4	11.3	1.3	96.7	3.6	0.3	<0.001
Pharmacist has previously given me/patient time	76.5	21.0	2.5	93.3	5.8	0.9	<0.001
Staff have previously been able to meet my/patient’s needs	83.1	14.8	2.0	97.3	2.4	0.3	<0.001
Pharmacy practices
Prefer pharmacy staff make it easy to speak to the pharmacist	81.6	16.6	1.8	88.5	10.0	1.5	0.029
Prefer not to speak when others can overhear	59.1	35.1	5.8	71.2	23.0	5.8	<0.001
Prefer to talk to a pharmacist in a private room	42.0	47.9	10.1	61.0	33.5	5.5	<0.001
Prefer pharmacy with good working relationship with GP’s surgery	73.3	22.3	4.4	52.9	36.9	10.3	<0.001
Prefer not to share reasons for asking to speak to the pharmacist with pharmacy staff	48.5	39.0	12.5	43.3	46.1	10.6	0.075
Prefer not to interrupt a pharmacist who is busy in the dispensary	84.0	9.8	6.3	28.0	37.7	34.3	<0.001
Trust pharmacist to keep personal information confidential	94.8	4.5	0.5	90.9	7.6	1.5	0.039
Trust the pharmacy staff to keep personal information confidential	90.1	7.6	2.3	87.0	11.8	1.2	0.031

Abbreviation: GP, general practitioner.

Table 3 Differences in public preferences for aspects of pharmacy characteristics and practices dependent on the use of medicines and pharmacies

Pharmacy characteristic/practice	Proportion (%) agreeing with preference
	Regular medicines use		Pharmacy use
	Yes (max n=601)	No (max n=395)	Frequent (max n=504)	Infrequent (max n=487)
Pharmacy characteristics
Prefer to use same pharmacy every time	79.0	47.6*	79.8	52.8*
Prefer pharmacy owned by a large company	36.1	28.9*	37.2	29.2
Prefer pharmacy owned by a pharmacist working there	30.6	21.0*	32.8	20.7*
Do not prefer a pharmacy in a supermarket	47.9	25.6*	44.7	33.3*
Prefer a pharmacy near where I live	89.2	76.2*	89.5	78.3*
Prefer a pharmacy near the GP’s surgery	88.7	66.5*	88.3	71.1*
Prefer a pharmacy open in the evening	77.9	69.5*	77.9	71.1
Pharmacy staff
Prefer a pharmacy where I recognize the pharmacist	73.0	38.0*	72.5	45.3*
Prefer a pharmacy where pharmacist knows me	68.6	35.9*	69.4	41.2*
Prefer a pharmacy where staff know me	53.0	36.1*	55.2	36.9*
Prefer a pharmacy where pharmacist appears approachable	92.0	80.6*	92.5	82.3*
Prefer a pharmacist who has previously given me time	84.3	64.5*	84.4	68.2*
Staff have previously been able to meet my needs	89.0	74.5*	89.3	76.9*
Pharmacy practices
Prefer pharmacy staff make it easy to speak to the pharmacist	84.8	77.3	87.1	76.2*
Prefer not to speak when others can overhear	63.9	52.0*	65.0	53.2*
Prefer a pharmacy where I can talk in a private room	47.9	32.7*	51.3	32.0*
Prefer pharmacy with good working relationship with GP’s surgery	80.5	62.5*	84.0	62.3*
Prefer not to interrupt a pharmacist who is busy in dispensary	87.6	78.3*	87.9	79.8*
Trust pharmacist to keep personal information confidential	97.5	91.1*	97.6	92.1*
Trust staff to keep personal information confidential	93.1	85.5*	92.7	87.4

Note:

* P<0.001, chi-squared test.

Abbreviations: GP, general practitioner; max, maximum.

Table 4 Views expressed by the public and pharmacists on attributes perceived as important in choosing a pharmacy and promotion of services

Respondent group	Comment	Respondent descriptor
Views on attributes important for choosing a particular pharmacy
Public views	“How good my relationship is with the pharmacist and if they’re efficient having my medicines ready to collect on time.”	White female, aged 45–54 years, in full-time work
	“Its appearance, it needs to be neat and tidy, not too busy as well.”	Asian female student, aged 24 years or younger
Pharmacist views	“Patients visit the pharmacist who has previously given ‘good’ advice even if they do not use the pharmacy regularly.”	Female second pharmacist, independent pharmacy
	“Communication skills of pharmacist. If patients can communicate fully with the pharmacist with no difficulty, and they feel listened to, they will prefer to return.”	Male second pharmacist, large multiple
Views on promotion of medicine-related services
Public views	“GPs should promote what pharmacists can do.”	Black female, aged 65 years or older
	“If doctor says it, it becomes like a marketing deal – so they shouldn’t get involved.”	Asian female, aged 45–54 years
	“Informing people when in pharmacy. People can’t be bothered to read leaflets.”	White male, aged 35–54 years
Pharmacist views	“Pharmacists try but struggle to promote these services. Patients view us as businesses and are suspicious, even if we tell them the NHS are behind it. MURs – If doctors and the NHS advertised and referred patients to tell them it was expected they should have this review, and that the GP wanted them to, then the reviews would be much more useful and less rushed.”	Female manager, large multiple
	“I believe services should be advertised in the pharmacy and it should be up to the patient to decide if he wants them, I don’t like the hard sell that we have to approach patients to get them into the consultation room.”	Female locum, small chain

Abbreviations: GP, general practitioner; MUR, medicines use review; NHS, National Health Service [England].

Figure 1 Proportions of public and pharmacist respondents indicating agreement that promotional methods are effective in encouraging service uptake.

Note: ^*P<0.001, chi-squared test.

Table 5 Public preferences for promotional methods for pharmacy medicine-related services related to respondent characteristics

Promotional methods	Proportion (% of total) indicating method would encourage them to use services
	Gender		Age group			Ethnicity		Education			Pharmacy use		Used service
	Female (n=520)	Male (n=469)	<35 years (n=278)	35–64 years (n=415)	65 years or older (n=271)	White (n=707)	Non-white (n=217)	School education (n=312)	Further education (n=357)	University (n=318)	Frequent (n=504)	Infrequent (n=484)	Yes (n=310)	No (n=680)
Doctor or other health professional recommendation	92*	84	87	89	92	92	85	90	88	87	92	84*	93*	86
Pharmacist or staff recommendation	83*	72	81	76	85	85	80	78	80	76	85	71*	87*	74
Family/friends recommendation	79*	70	83	73	78	78	76	72	74	76	78	70	80	71
Poster/leaflet in surgery	63*	52	63	57	65	65	57	55	57	59	65	50*	67*	53
Poster/leaflet in pharmacy	59*	47	60	53	61	61	54	55	53	53	61	45*	63*	49
Health care website	36	30	46	33	17*	35	35	22*	34	40	35	31	34	33
Leaflet through door	16*	8	10	13	16	16	15	15	11	11	16	9	15	11
Information sent to personal email	13	13	15	13	8*	13	17*	11	11	17*	13	13	14	12

Note:

* Difference between subgroups, P<0.001.

Table 6 Odds ratio (95% CI) of public views toward promotional methods for medicine-related services

Demographic characteristic	Odds ratio (95% CI) of preferences for promotional methods for services
	Doctor/health professional recommendation	Pharmacist or staff recommendation	Family or friends recommendation	Poster or leaflet in a pharmacy	Poster or leaflet in a doctor’s surgery	Leaflet through my door	Email	Health care website
Gender: female (reference =1.00)
Male	0.50* (0.34–0.76)	0.53* (0.39–0.73)	0.59* (0.44–0.79)	0.64* (0.49–0.83)	0.62* (0.47–0.81)	0.53 (0.35–0.80)	0.93 (0.63–1.34)	0.70 (0.53–0.93)
Age group (years): older (>65) (reference =1.00)
Middle (35–64)	1.42 (0.88–2.27)	1.53 (1.04–2.46)	1.74 (1.20–2.53)	1.68 (1.23–2.31)	1.47 (1.07–2.03)	0.89 (0.54–1.46)	1.15 (0.74–1.77)	1.74* (1.26–2.40)
Young (<34)	1.33 (0.71–2.48)	1.59 (0.97–2.58)	2.56* (1.63–4.03)	2.86* (1.91–4.30)	2.47* (1.65–3.71)	0.95 (0.52–1.73)	1.94 (1.04–3.60)	4.85* (3.03–7.77)
Ethnicity: white (reference =1.00)
Non-white	0.66 (0.43–1.01)	1.21 (0.84–1.74)	1.07 (0.76–1.49)	1.02 (0.76–1.38)	0.89 (0.66–1.21)	1.52 (0.99–2.32)	1.49 (0.99–2.23)	0.91 (0.66–1.24)
Education: school (reference =1.00)
College/further	0.96 (0.57–1.61)	1.00 (0.67–1.49)	1.37 (0.94–2.00)	0.95 (0.68–1.33)	1.24 (0.88–1.75)	0.79 (0.48–1.30)	1.56 (0.96–2.53)	2.20* (1.52–3.20)
University	1.07 (0.67–1.71)	0.80 (0.55–1.17)	1.24 (0.86–1.78)	1.05 (0.76–1.45)	1.25 (0.90–1.72)	1.07 (0.65–1.77)	1.64 (1.05–2.58)	1.23 (0.89–1.71)
Pharmacy use: frequent (reference =1.00)
Infrequent	0.54 (0.35–0.83)	0.48* (0.34–0.67)	0.64 (0.47–0.88)	0.54* (0.41–0.72)	0.53* (0.40–0.69)	0.58 (0.38–0.89)	0.98 (0.65–1.46)	0.71 (0.53–0.96)
Service use: yes (reference =1.00)
No	0.57 (0.34–0.96)	0.51* (0.35–0.76)	0.64 (0.42–0.85)	0.54* (0.40–0.73)	0.59* (0.43–0.80)	0.86 (0.56–1.32)	0.77 (0.50–1.46)	0.70 (0.51–0.97)

Note:

* Difference from reference, P<0.001.

Abbreviation: CI, confidence interval.