Patients should be able to choose to communicate with their pharmacist by phone, text, email or face to face, the RPS charter states

More on the Royal Pharmaceutical Society

Pharmacists must improve medicines adherence, says RPS report

Invest in pharmacists' prescribing skills, RPS tells government

RPS sets out standards for delivering public health

Patients should expect their pharmacist to have knowledge of the symptoms of long-term conditions and should be able to choose whether they communicate with their pharmacist via phone, text, email or face-to-face, the RPS said in the draft version of the charter published last week (May 23).

The charter had been designed with patients to ensure pharmacists delivered a "consistent quality of services" and protected patients from "instances of avoidable harm", the RPS said.

The RPS had identified a need for the charter from feedback to its Now or Never report last year, which looked at what patients expected from pharmacists, it told C+D this week (May 27).

NHS England also contacted patients as part of its Call to Action consultation on community pharmacy earlier this year but the RPS told C+D it did not expect the two consultations to "clash" by repeating the same information.

The RPS had already received "a number" of responses from patient groups to the charter, it said.

The society planned to expand the project over the year to create patient expectations for pharmacists in other care settings, such as care homes, prisons and hospitals.

As well as patients, the RPS planned to work with the royal colleges for GPs, nurses and physicians to develop the charters, it added.

RPS draft expectations for pharmacists

● I expect my pharmacist to spend time with me talking about my medicines if I ask and for us to agree on outcomes that are achievable from the medicines. This would include how to take them, the side effects and what I can hope the outcomes of taking my medicines will be.

● I expect my pharmacist to be my advocate for medicine safety issues.

● I expect my pharmacist to have expertise on my condition or, if not, to know how to help me or where to direct me.

● I expect my pharmacist to provide me with reliable information and enable me to access it or signpost me to where I can go.

● I expect to be able to choose the method I use to communicate with my pharmacist eg email, text, phone, face to face.

● I expect to be able to access my medicines in a timely manner that is convenient for me.

● I expect my pharmacist to support me to stay well and signpost me to relevant services.

● I expect to receive the same high quality standard of service from my pharmacist wherever I am located, whatever the time of day.

● I expect my pharmacist to have available the information they need to know about me and to work closely with my other care providers to support my care.

● I expect my pharmacist to have knowledge about key symptoms of long-term conditions to aid diagnosis and to have more involvement in the management of my conditions, including supporting me to care for myself.

● If I need it, I expect my pharmacist to visit me at home or in my care setting.

● If I have a long-term condition or particular health needs, I expect to be able to find a pharmacist who has specific skills to advise and support me in my locality.

● I expect that all healthcare professionals are aware of the services and expertise available in my area and would be able to help me, through referral or recommendation, to find the right pharmacist for me.