As part of a recent project, I spent some time looking at community pharmacies in a particular area of London. Some areas I particularly focused on was the the level of customer service, the range of services available and the availability of a practice leaflet.
In this blog, I will be leaving the customer service and range of services available out and discussing only the presence of a practice leaflet. We don’t have enough time!
It is a Clinical Governance requirement of all pharmacy contractors providing NHS services to have a practice leaflet available for distribution yet the results of my visits amazed me. On the day I visited 12 pharmacies; 4 had current leaflets, 2 had dated leaflets and the remainder did not have one at all. As you can imagine, it was the corporates and the multiples whose leaflets were available and up-to-date.
Is this a reflection on the mindset of community pharmacy owners or in fact a reflection of the current inspection regime?
In any case, it didn’t affect me as I was only a casual observer but what if I was new to the area and had serious health problems? Where would I receive the best care? How would I know?
As a new patient, I am entitled to that leaflet and if that influences my decision I am more likely to choose the larger pharmacies.
As a pharmacy owner, how do you communicate with with new patients? or how do you promote you range of services? If you say customer service, then I might disagree, as that is another matter altogether.
As a contractor of NHS services, I think it is only a small commitment that the practice leaflet is available and up-to-date. It only takes a small amount of time and can be used as a marketing tool in your local area.
Do you use your practice leaflet? What is you opinion?
Do you have any further thoughts ? I’d love to hear them here.
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Whilst some individual pharmacies have been noted, examples have been based on a no-name basis for the purpose of this report. To illustrate