The role of the general practice pharmacist in community health care

Abstract

The general practice pharmacist's advisory role in association with the supply of medicines for which advice has been sought has been investigated. The need for and the use of self medication has been discussed. Preliminary studies were undertaken to investigate the extent of the general practice pharmacist's active involvement in self medication as an adviser to the customer rather than the limited role of a passive supplier of medication. These studies lead to a national survey of pharmacies in order to quantitatively assess the extent of the pharmacist 1 s advisory role.Different types of pharmacy were distinguished in order (a) to establish the representative nature of the sample, and (b) to identify any differences between them. The quality of the general practice pharmacist's advice was assessed by a survey of custamers/clients who had received advice. The symptoms presented and type of advice given were collated with the client's own assessment of the pharmacist's advice. Both surveys have helped to quantitatively evaluate and affirm the extent of the pharmacist's advisory role and its acceptability by the general public. The pharmacist's skills and education needs for this aspect of his professional work are discussed and suggestions for future investigation are made in order to develop further the general practice pharmacist's contribution to the ommunity.