Listen: patients turn to local pharmacists

Community pharmacies are a key part of the NHS frontline and new figures released today indicate that the British public’s have been relying on their local pharmacists heavily during the pandemic. 68 per cent of the adult population have visited a pharmacy since the beginning of the first COVID-19 lockdown in March, with over a third saying they gone to their pharmacy for advice when they have been unable to visit their GP due to COVID-19 safety measures at the surgery.

The research commissioned by the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) surveyed over 2,000 UK adults and found that 15 per cent of people who were not able to see their GP have visited their pharmacy for healthy living advice, whilst over 1.4million people have sought pharmacists out for advice about their mental health.

Pharmacists have also been assisting to alleviate the number of people visiting A&E and their GPs for minor ailments. 42 per cent of people say when they have been poorly with complaints such as earache, tummy ache or itchy skin, their local pharmacy has been their first port of call when they haven’t been able to see their GP. One in eight people have gone to their local chemist rather than their GP for physical examinations, such as changes in the body, bumps and swelling.

Aston spoke to Andrew Lane, chair of The National Pharmacy Association to discuss the research in further details.

Photo by Nathaniel Yeo on Unsplash