Pharmacy is the highest rated healthcare service in London, a survey has found.

The findings, included in a report by independent think tank the London Health Commission (LHC), revealed that 90 per cent of 4,000 Londoners rated their most recent experience of visiting a pharmacist for advice as either "good" or "very good". 

Community and social services such as district nurses came second with a score of 83 per cent, while GPs scored 76 per cent, the LHC said in the report published on Wednesday (October 15). 

Eight per cent of Londoners interviewed by market research company Ipsos Mori described their recent experience of pharmacists as "neither good nor poor" and 3 per cent felt it was "poor" or "very poor". Mental health services received the most "poor" and "very poor" ratings out of the various healthcare services listed, which also included walk-in clinics and A&E departments. 

The LHC said it had found that patients with long-term conditions wanted "support to maintain their independence rather than solely to live longer". Pharmacists needed to be involved in a "multi-sector approach" with other healthcare professionals to enable this, it said. 

The LHC recommended that people should be "empowered" by being handed control over their health records and be able to give consent over who could access this information. 

The think tank called for more joint healthcare teams in the community and better integration between health and social care. Partnerships between local authorities and clinical commissioning groups would drive "significant improvements" in Londoners' health and care, it predicted.

The LHC also used the report to call for the Mayor of London to ban smoking in public spaces, including parks and famous landmarks. More than 8,000 deaths in the city were attributable to smoking per year, said the think tank, which described the habit as "one of London's biggest killers".

	What do you think of the report's recommendations?