Consultation on Coventry and Warwickshire Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment

We undertook three surveys as part of the Coventry and Warwickshire Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment (PNA), all of which were targeted within Coventry and Warwickshire:

• Public Survey – the aim of this survey was to understand the public's usage of pharmacies and identify any public concern or issues with pharmacy access.
• Pharmacy Survey – the aim of this survey was to understand the services offered by pharmacies in Coventry and Warwickshire. This survey was targeted at pharmacy owners.
• Formal Consultation – the aim of this survey was to establish if the PNA had accurately reflected the needs of pharmacies within Coventry and Warwickshire. This survey was open to the public but was targeted at the key organisations we needed to consult with.

Public Survey – There were 1,601 responses to the public survey across Coventry and Warwickshire. The key themes from this included:

• On average, respondents tended to use pharmacies once or twice a month, or once or twice every other month.
• Respondents were most likely to drive or walk to a pharmacy.
• It takes most respondents less than 15 minutes to get to their pharmacy.
• The majority of respondents use the same community pharmacy all of, or most of the time.
• Efficient and quick service, location of pharmacy, and friendly staff were the top 3 factors most important to respondents in their pharmacy.
• Between 9am and 1pm on a Saturday was identified as the most convenient time to access community pharmacies.
• Pharmacists were for some viewed as a positive alternative to making GP appointments.
• A frequent concern was that prescriptions were not ready for collection or had items out of stock.
• Respondents observed how busy some of their local pharmacies were and felt there was a lack of capacity.
• Respondents sometimes reported that when they sought additional health advice as per NHS recommended pathway to self-care, staff including pharmacists were unwilling to offer advice preferring instead to refer to GP services.

Pharmacy Survey – 161 pharmacies out of the 197 in Coventry and Warwickshire responded to the pharmacy survey. The results allowed us to see the provision of a wide range of services, which when analysed showed a good offering of services proportionate to need.

Formal Consultation – 34 people downloaded the PNA as part of this formal consultation, with 5 responding. Whilst the response rate to the formal consultation was low both Health and Wellbeing Boards are happy with the sight and opportunity given during the process for all key stakeholders. Key themes included:

• The purpose of the PNA has been explained in the document.
• The PNA reflects the current provision of pharmacy services within the area.
• Most respondents felt the PNA reflected the needs of the area and there were no gaps in service, with only the End-of-Life Medicines service being highlighted. The issue raised for this service was a concern around lack of provision across the counties.
• Respondents were happy that the PNA provided information to inform market entry decisions.
• The PNA provides information to inform how pharmaceutical services may be commissioned in the future.
• The PNA has provided enough information to inform future pharmaceutical service provisions and plans for pharmacies and dispensing appliance contractors.
• The majority of respondents agreed that all pharmacy services that need to be highlighted had been highlighted and agreed with the conclusion of the PNA, with only the End-of-Life Medicines service being mentioned here as above.
• A comment was made regarding a change in Boots Pharmacies opening Times.

Public Survey – following this survey the following actions took place:

• Maps were included to show drive time, public transport time, and cycling time to community pharmacies. Walk time was also analysed, but a separate map was not produced.
• A map to show the community pharmacy provision on a Saturday between 9am – 1pm was produced.
• Taking into consideration the concerns highlighted around prescriptions, access, and capacity, work was done to understand the cause of this which led to the inclusion of a section highlighting the pressures on community pharmacies and how this impacts the customer experience and service quality. This led to recommendations around imbedding community pharmacies in pathways to improve information, and monitoring these pressures moving forward, particularly against the Cost of Living pressures.

Pharmacy Survey – Following this survey the provision of pharmacies was analysed and the conclusion made that there is a good spread of services across the county.

Formal Consultation – following the formal consultation the following was done:

• Boots opening times were checked and confirmed to be accurate within the PNA.

The Coventry and Warwickshire Community Pharmacy Steering Group was asked to discuss the provision of End-of-Life Medicines. They discussed how commissioners currently have a set number of pharmacies they commission this service to and cannot exceed that number. This is being reviewed, and a supplementary statement to this PNA will be produced should this be changed. A recommendation on End-of-Life Medicines was expanded to reflect this.

The Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment 2022 has now been published. Please click on this link to go to the website page.