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Pharmacy: Our untapped resource Research fact sheet

Research was carried out by the Patients Association to support the All About Health campaign, which targets people with busy lifestyles to help them manage their own health and identify what support they can receive from their local pharmacy.

Supporting GPs in waiting room ‘crowd reduction’

• Only one in ten respondents knew they could pop into a pharmacy at lunchtime for a health check.
• Over half (57%) of people did not know they could get weight loss advice from their local pharmacy and 72% did not know they could have their Body Mass Index measured.
• Half of those interviewed did not know they could have their cholesterol or blood pressure measured by a pharmacist but after being made aware 45% said they would use cholesterol services and 36% blood pressure services in the future.
• 56% of the people surveyed were not aware that diabetes screening existed even though NHS figures for 2009 show obesity and diabetes diagnoses on the increase.
• More than half said they didn’t want to bother their GP because they feared their problem would be viewed as trivial
• Almost half of the respondents could not remember or had never sought health advice from their pharmacist despite 100% respondents having been to a pharmacy for prescriptions
• 55% had difficulty getting advice / making GPs appointments

Seeking health advice

• Eight out of ten respondents said they knew many people that did not look after their health.
• Over 50% said they were not likely to use an NHS walk-in centre
• 40% said they were not likely to use NHS Direct
• A third thought a personalised web-based action plan would help them take more control of their health
• Half claimed using an online symptom checker before seeking advice would help make them feel more in control

For further information about the pharmacy contract please contact:
Kate Screen or Dean Enon at Gravitas PR
T: 01242 211000 or E: kate@gravitaspr.co.uk/dean@gravitaspr.co.uk