Making the Most of Your
Local Pharmacy
Wigan Borough
Pharmacy Patient Satisfaction Survey
2015
Introduction
A patient satisfaction survey was carried out involving pharmacies in Wigan Borough and supported by the Local Pharmaceutical Committee. This was carried out concurrently with the consultation on the Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment (24 November 2014 to 2 February 2015). The opportunity for pharmacies to provide additional responses to the survey was extended throughout February 2015 to maximise the number of responses received.
The 72 pharmacies were each given 20 copies of the survey. The aim was to give these to patients/customers to complete while attending the pharmacy. 307 responses were received (21.3% return proportion). All responses are completely anonymous. A copy of the survey is given in Appendix 1.
Key Findings – Service Satisfaction
• How would you rate the service you received today?
99.0% of people responding to this question replied ‘Excellent’ or ‘Good’.
• How would you rate the cleanliness and tidiness of the pharmacy? 99.7% of people responding to this question replied ‘Excellent’ or ‘Good’.
• How would you rate the helpfulness of the staff today?
99.7% of people responding to this question replied ‘Excellent’ or ‘Good’.
• How would you rate the time taken for staff to serve you?
97.6% of people responding to this question replied ‘Excellent’ or ‘Good’.
• Are you satisfied with the opening hours of your regular pharmacy, or if
you have no regular pharmacy, the one you used today?
Survey Analysis
Gender and age group of people surveyed
Figure 1 shows the breakdown of those surveyed by gender. Of those that responded to the question there were more females than males. 10% of those surveyed did not answer this question.
Figure 1. Gender of people surveyed
Figure 2 shows the breakdown of those surveyed by age group. Most of those surveyed were aged 25+ within which there was a balanced representation by age group. 10% of those surveyed did not provide an answer to this question.
Figure 2. Age group of people surveyed
158 (51%) 119 (39%) 30 (10%) Female Male Not answered 5 (2%) 14 (4%) 80 (26%) 89 (29%) 90 (29%) 8 (3%) 21 (7%) Under 16 16 - 24 25 - 44 45 - 59 60+
Prefer not to say Not answered
Figure 3 provides a breakdown by age group and gender. Of those that answered the questions on age and gender a higher number of females were surveyed compared to males up to the age of 60. For the 60+ age group, where answers were provided, an equal number of males and females were surveyed.
Figure 3. Age group of people surveyed by gender
Ethnicity of people surveyed
86.6% of people surveyed gave their ethnicity as ‘White’. However, 25 (8.1%) people either did not answer this question or answered ‘Prefer not to say’. Taking this into account, of those people surveyed who declared their ethnicity, 94.3% declared their ethnicity as ‘White’. This reflects the situation in Wigan Borough as a whole where in the 2011 Census over 95% of people responding in Wigan Borough declared their ethnicity as ‘White’.
Of those who declared their ethnicity in this survey, less than 2% were ‘Asian’ or ‘Asian British’, and less than 2% were either ‘Black’ or ‘Black British’, ‘Chinese’, or ‘Mixed’. A further 2% of those who declared their ethnicity, declared their ethnicity as ‘Other’.
Locality of residence of people surveyed
91% of people surveyed provided their postcode. This is treated as completely confidential. However, it allows an assessment of the spread of responses geographically. This was done by equating each postcode with one of five Localities in Wigan Borough (see Figure 4). These are the same Localities used for the Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment.
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Under 16 16 - 24 25 - 44 45 - 59 60+ Prefer not to say Not answered N u m b e r o f p e o p le s u rv e y e d Age Group
Figure 4. Localities in Wigan Borough
Table 1 shows the proportion of survey responses by Locality for people that had provided their postcode. There was a low response from Locality 3 compared with elsewhere.
Locality Proportion of people surveyed
(Those that provided their postcode)
1 33%
2 27%
3 5%
4 23%
5 12%
Table 1. Proportion of people surveyed (who provided their postcode) by Locality
Reasons for visiting a pharmacy on the day when surveyed
Figure 5 shows the proportion of people surveyed by the number of reasons that they had for visiting a pharmacy that day. Most people (79.5%) had only a single reason for visiting a pharmacy that day when answering the question ‘Why are you using the pharmacy today’.
Figure 5. Number of reasons for visiting a pharmacy on the day when surveyed
Figure 6 shows the reasons people had to visit a pharmacy on the day that they were surveyed as a proportion of all the reasons given. The most common reason given (over 60%) was to collect a prescription.
Figure 6. Reasons for visiting a pharmacy as a proportion of all the reasons given
Figure 7 provides the same information as Figure 6 but as a proportion of people surveyed. This excluded people that did not provide an answer to this question (1% - see Figure 5). The majority of people surveyed were attending in order to collect a prescription (80%). Given that the intention was for people to complete the survey questionnaire within the pharmacy, having to wait for their prescription to be dispensed provided a convenient opportunity to do this.
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 1 2 3 4 Not answered % o f p e o p le
Number of reasons for attending
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
Prescription To buy medication To buy other products Advice Minor Ailment Scheme Emergency Hormonal Contraception Medicines use Review Stop Smoking Scheme Supervised Methodone/Subutex Needle Exchange Other
Figure 7. Reasons for visiting a pharmacy as a proportion of people surveyed
Figure 8 shows the preference of people when choosing to visit a pharmacy. The majority of those surveyed preferred to visit the pharmacy they attended on the day they were surveyed.
Figure 8. Preference of those surveyed in visiting a pharmacy
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% Prescription
To buy medication To buy other products Advice Minor Ailment Scheme Emergency Hormonal Contraception Medicines use Review Stop Smoking Scheme Supervised Methadone/Subutex Needle Exchange Other
% of people attending by reason
83.1% 4.6%
7.5% 4.9%
This is the pharmacy I choose to visit if possible
This is one of several pharmacies I use This pharmacy was just convenient for me today Not answered
Service Satisfaction
Figure 9 shows the results of the key service satisfaction questions within the survey questionnaire. This includes the proportion of people who did not answer each question.
Figure 9. Results of key service satisfaction questions
Figure 10 shows the same results as Figure 9 but excludes people that did not answer the question, combines ‘Excellent or Good’ and ‘Poor or Very Poor’, and zooms in on the chart to highlight information.
Figure 10. Results of key service satisfaction questions (excluding not answered questions)
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
How would you rate the service you received today?
How would you rate the cleanliness and tidiness of the pharmacy?
How would you rate the helpfulness of staff today?
How would you rate the time taken for staff to serve you?
Proportion of people questioned
Excellent Good Average Poor Very Poor Not answered
99.0% 99.7% 99.7% 97.6%
95% 96% 97% 98% 99% 100%
How would you rate the service you received today?
How would you rate the cleanliness and tidiness of the pharmacy?
How would you rate the helpfulness of staff today?
How would you rate the time taken for staff to serve you?
Proportion of people questioned (Excludes 'Not answered')
Figure 11 shows the proportion of people satisfied with the opening hours of their regular pharmacy, or if they have no regular pharmacy, the one they used when they completed the survey questionnaire.
Figure 11. Satisfaction with opening hours
Taken as a whole, there appears to be a high level of satisfaction with the pharmacy service received by those who completed the survey questionnaire.
General pharmacy use
Figure 12 shows how regularly the people surveyed visited a pharmacy.
Figure 12. Frequency of pharmacy use by people surveyed
92.2%
96.9%
90% 91% 92% 93% 94% 95% 96% 97% 98% 99% 100% Are you satisfied with the opening hours
of your regular pharmacy, or, if you have no regular pharmacy the one you used
today? (Includes not answered) Are you satisfied with the opening hours of your regular pharmacy, or, if you have no regular pharmacy the one you used
today? (Excludes not answered)
Proportion of people questioned
Yes No Not answered
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% Daily Weekly Monthly Every 3 months Twice a year Once a year or less Not answered
The majority of people surveyed visit a pharmacy at least once every three months with the largest proportion of people visiting a pharmacy monthly. Figure 13 shows the usual means of travel of people surveyed either to their regularly pharmacy, or if they do not have one, to the pharmacy they used when surveyed. The majority either walked to the pharmacy or travelled by car.
Figure 13. Means of travel to a pharmacy
Figure 14 shows the travel times of those surveyed using their usual means of travel to a pharmacy. The majority were able to travel to a pharmacy within ten minutes with in excess of 90% travelling to a pharmacy within 20 minutes.
Figure 14. Travel time to pharmacy
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% Walk Cycle Public Transport Taxi Car Other Not answered
Proportion of people surveyed
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 5 minutes or less 5 - 10 minutes 10 - 15 minutes 15 - 20 minutes 20 - 25 minutes More than 25 minutes Not answered
Figure 15 shows the reasons that people used a pharmacy within the previous 12 months as a proportion of people that gave at least one reason. People ticked up to eight reasons given for the survey question ‘Have you used a pharmacy for any of the following in the last 12 months?’ However, 22% of those surveyed did not provide any answer to this question. This could be interpreted as they had not visited a pharmacy within the previous 12 months for any of the reasons listed or that they had not answered the question.
Figure 15. Reasons for visiting a pharmacy within the previous 12 months as a proportion of people surveyed that provided at least one reason
Finding a pharmacy closed during the previous 12 months
Around a quarter of people surveyed (76 people, 24.8%) had wanted to use either their regular pharmacy or one that was convenient at the time but had found it closed during the previous 12 months. Of these, 70 people gave a day or days when they had found a pharmacy closed when needed or stated that they could not remember (see Figure 16). Of these, 62 (88.6%) only gave only one day of the week when they found a pharmacy closed when needed. Eight (11.4%), stated more than one day when they found a pharmacy closed when needed, with four people stating every day of the week. The distribution of finding a pharmacy closed is fairly even across the week with a range of 8 to 12 times each week day, 7 times on a bank holiday. 69 people gave times of the day when they found a pharmacy closed when needed or stated that they could not remember (see Figure 17). Most only specified one time although four people specified two times.
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
Advice on a current health problem Advice on a long term health issue Advice on a more healthy lifestyle Disposing of medicine you no longer need Advice on where to go for other services Help to stop smoking Emergency Hormonal Contraception Minor Ailment Scheme Blister pack/compliance aid Prescription delivery service Medines use review Supervised Methadone/subutex Needle exchange
Figure 16. Number of days when pharmacy found closed by weekday (70 people)
Figure 17. Number of times when pharmacy found closed by time period (69 people)
Figure 18 states the actions taken when finding a pharmacy closed. 77% of the actions taken involved waiting until the pharmacy was open, using a different pharmacy or using NHS Direct. 13% of the actions involved seeking clinical
attention (seeing their doctor or out of hours doctor, going to the walk in centre or a hospital). 10% stated that they could not remember.
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri Sat Sun Bank Holiday Can't remember
Number of days when pharmacy found closed
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 6am - 9am 9am - 12pm 12pm - 2pm 2pm - 6pm 6pm - 8pm 8pm - 10pm 10pm - 6am Can't remember
Figure 18. Actions taken when pharmacy found closed (69 people)
However, when analysing the data to determine the risk of finding a pharmacy closed by the normal frequency of a person visiting a pharmacy, the risk of finding the pharmacy closed is quite low (see table 2.).
Frequency of visiting a pharmacy Risk of finding the pharmacy closed
Daily Less than 1 in 300 visits
Weekly Less than 1 in 120 visits
Monthly Less than 1 in 40 visits
Every 3 months 1 in 38 visits
Table 2. Risk of finding a pharmacy closed by normal frequency of use
The majority of people that experienced finding a pharmacy closed were visiting a pharmacy at least every month.
Conclusion
This patient satisfaction survey provides an overview of patients and customers views of pharmacy services within Wigan Borough. As such it has several limitations. Firstly, it provides no specific information regarding individual pharmacies. Secondly, people surveyed were more likely to be people who attended pharmacies relatively frequently. Therefore, there is less information in regard to the occasional user as illustrated in Figure 12. Fourthly, since it was most convenient for people to complete the survey questionnaire while they were waiting for the dispensing of a prescription, there is likely to be an over representation of people attending a pharmacy to collect a prescription. This is certainly suggested in Figure 7 where around 80% of those surveyed did attend a pharmacy to collect a prescription. Finally, there is geographical variation in the number of responses received with people living in in the north of the Borough being more represented than people in the middle and east of the Borough.
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% Waited until pharmacy was open
Used a different pharmacy Went to doctor Used out of hours doctor Went to walk in centre Used NHS direct Went to hospital Can't remember
However, given the above limitations following can be stated:
1. In regard to the key service satisfaction questions, the majority of people were satisfied with the service that they received on the day they were surveyed with over 95% of people answering the questions given in Figure 10 as ‘Excellent’ or ‘Good’.
2. Most people (96.9%) were satisfied with the opening hours of their regular pharmacy or the one they used on the day surveyed (Figure 11).
3. Around a quarter of people surveyed were faced with a closed pharmacy during the previous 12 months. However, the risk of finding a pharmacy closed for any one visit was low (Table 2).
4. Most people surveyed either walked or used a car to travel to a pharmacy with over 90% having a travel time of no more than 20 minutes (Figure 14).
5. While most people surveyed were attending the pharmacy to collect a prescription it was clear that those surveyed used pharmacies for a wide diversity of reasons (Figures 7 and 15) including advice on a number of issues.
Local pharmacies provide a valuable service to the community as they can often provide advice and services that reduce the need to patients to seek other clinical services. In addition, when patients seek advice for want could be a serious condition pharmacy staff can advise patients to see their doctor or signpost them to another appropriate service. Despite its limitations, this survey does suggest that most people are very satisfied with the service they receive from local pharmacies.
Appendix 1
Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment Public Questionnaire
Date Completed ______________________ Time Completed ____________________ Why are you using the pharmacy today?
Prescription To buy medication To buy other products
Advice Minor Ailment Scheme Emergency Contraception
(morning after pill) Medicines Use Review Stop Smoking Scheme Supervised
Methadone/Subutex
Needle Exchange Other
Which of the following best describes how you use this pharmacy? This is the pharmacy I
choose to visit if possible
This is one of several pharmacies I use
This pharmacy was just convenient for me today How would you rate the service you received today?
Excellent Good Average
Poor Very poor Don’t know
How would you rate the cleanliness and Tidiness of the pharmacy?
Excellent Good Average
Poor Very poor Don’t know
How would you rate the helpfulness of the staff today?
Excellent Good Average
Poor Very poor Don’t know
How would you rate the time taken for staff to serve you?
Excellent Good Average
Poor Very poor Don’t know
How regularly do you visit a pharmacy (include any pharmacy you use not just the one you are using today)?
Daily Weekly Monthly
Every 3 months Twice a year Once a year or less
How do you usually travel to your regular pharmacy, or, if you have no regular pharmacy the one you used today?
Walk Cycle Public transport
Taxi Car Other
How long does it take you to get to the pharmacy by this method?
5 minutes or less 5-10 minutes 10-15 minutes
15-20 minutes 20-25 minutes More than 25 minutes
Are you satisfied with the opening hours of your regular pharmacy, or, if you have no regular pharmacy the one you used today?
In the last 12 months have you wanted to use your regular pharmacy (or if you do not have a regular pharmacy the one most convenient to you) at a time when it was closed?
Yes No
If yes what day of the week was it? Tick all that apply
Monday Tuesday Wednesday
Thursday Friday Saturday
Sunday Bank holiday Can’t remember
If yes what time of the day was it? Tick all that apply
Early morning 6am-9am Morning 9am-12pm Lunchtime 12pm-2pm Afternoon 2pm-6pm Evening 6pm-8pm Late evening 8pm-10pm
Night 10pm-6am Can’t remember
If yes what did you do? Tick all that apply Waited until pharmacy was
open
Used a different
pharmacy Went to doctor
Used out of hours doctor Went to walk in centre Used NHS direct
Went to hospital Can’t remember
Have you used a pharmacy for any of the following in the last 12 months? Tick all that apply Advice on a current health
problem
Advice on a long-term health issue
Advice on a more healthy lifestyle
Disposing of medicines you no longer need
Advice on where to go
for other services Help to stop smoking Emergency Contraception
(morning after pill) Minor Ailment Scheme
Blister pack/Compliance aid
Prescription Delivery
Service Medicines Use Review Supervised Methadone/Subutex
Needle Exchange
Are you:
Male Female
Age:
Under 16 16-24 25-44
45-59 60 or over Prefer not to say
Ethnicity:
White Asian or Asian British Black or Black British
Chinese Mixed Other
Prefer not to say
