More than 80% of the public would use pharmacies for “services they currently associate with GPs”, new NPA data shared with C+D yesterday (October 14) revealed.
The NPA said that its survey of more than 5,000 members of the UK public, conducted in May, highlights a “strong appetite for expanding pharmacy services” - with 84% saying that they “would be likely” to use pharmacies for services they typically access through a GP.
Read more: BMA distances itself from controversial Pharmacy First letter
The survey also found that 53% of respondents would be willing to pay for these services at a pharmacy if it resulted in faster service than at their GP practice, it added.
According to the NPA, there is “broad support” among the public for the use of digital pharmacy services, with almost half of people (47%) saying that text reminders would be “very valuable”.
However, 42% reported that data privacy and security are a concern, it added.
Read more: Welsh government commissions review of GP pharmacists
Meanwhile, business property adviser Christie & Co’s annual market review last week found that the majority of pharmacy professionals expect private services - excluding weight management - to be an area of growth over the next year.
Survey findings published in the report showed that 59% of over 7,000 pharmacy professionals expect to see growth in weight loss medication, while 63% anticipate growth in “other private services”.
More than half of respondents (52%) think the Pharmacy First service will be an area of growth, while a “significant” 81% reported an increase in demand for private services within their pharmacy over the last 12 months, the report said.
Read more: Pharmacy First: ‘Forget about GPs, they’re not going to help you’
It comes as the British Medical Association (BMA) has distanced itself from a letter to GPs suggesting they should not refer patients to the Pharmacy First service, as the scheme has the “significant potential to undermine” doctors.
The letter claimed that patients using Pharmacy First are “being seen by less-skilled people to further enable the steady downgrade of patient expectations”, The Times reported last week.
But the BMA has since stressed “this was not a BMA communication” and that the letter was sent “in error” by “North East and North Cumbria local medical committees (LMCs) to local practices”.
