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TO
P OR NOT TO P: PHARMACISTS THOUGHTS ON SAFETY OF DEREGULATED P MEDICINES?
Background
The Department of Health wish to see patients taking greater responsibility
for their own care and as part of this strategy they are committed to increasing
the range of medicines available from community pharmacies without a
prescription1. Obviously, community pharmacists have an important
part to play in delivering this strategy but little is known about how their
views on the safety of these medicines can affect whether they will recommend
them to their patients. This paper aims to report the views of community
pharmacists regarding the safety of four different medicines that have been
deregulated.
Method
Semi-structured interviews were held face to face with 28 community pharmacists
in the north west of England. A questionnaire was developed and piloted on six
of the pharmacists before being used as the basis for the remaining interviews.
The researchers completed the questionnaire and made notes during the interview.
Four deregulated medicines (simvastatin, omeprazole, Levonelle® and
hydrocortisone cream) were used in the questionnaire to help focus the
discussion.
Findings
There was a wide range of views expressed regarding the safety of these four
medicines with pharmacists having the greatest number of concerns over the
safety of simvastatin. Hydrocortisone cream was the only product considered ‘safe’
by all the pharmacists. The attributes associated with a safe product can be
seen in table 1.
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Table 1 |
Safe |
Unsafe |
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Product has:
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- few interactions
- few side effects
- few contraindications
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Manufacturer has |
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- advertising – creates demand that may not be appropriate
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Other: |
- no one has ever been sent to jail for selling this drug
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- can’t trust patients to take appropriately
- lack of patient knowledge (medical history)
- masks symptoms of underlying disease
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The majority of pharmacists did not feel confident selling
products such as simvastatin as they felt the training pack they received
through the post did not address their concerns. However, one pharmacist said
that their view on the safety of simvastatin had changed following attending a
formal training event. Many of the pharmacists said they would be more confident
selling these products, especially simvastatin, if there was a clear protocol
outlining the checks that they would need to make.
Discussion
Even though the medicines have been deemed to be safe for over the counter
sale, pharmacists have concerns that effect how comfortable they are selling
these products. Formal training and protocols might go some way towards
improving a pharmacist’s comfort level enabling them to recommend these
products to their patients.
References
- Department of Health. A vision for pharmacy in the new NHS. London
Stationary Office 2003
Presented at the HSRPP Conference 2005, Reading
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