Scottish community pharmacists' current involvement in and attitudes towards 'extended service' provision: a national survey

Objective: To determine Scottish community pharmacists' present involvement with 'extended' service provision, as outlined in The right medicine' policy document, as well as an insight into the attitudes of pharmacists in delivering such services. Setting: All community pharmacists working in Scotland. Method: A questionnaire was developed, piloted and refined before mailing to all community pharmacists working in Scotland (n = 1621). Two reminders were sent to non-responders. Data on current service provision was analysed using SPSS version 11 for windows. Key findings: An overall response rate of 56.4% (914/1621) was achieved for pharmacists. The survey revealed that the majority of respondents either agreed or strongly agreed with the 'key service areas' being provided from community pharmacies. Some services were obviously agreed with more than others. In particular repeat dispensing and emergency hormonal contraception (EHC) were rated highly. Least agreement was provided for needle exchange and schemes for supporting carers. Conclusion: There appears to be wide variation in current service provision in the 'key service areas' considered. The highest involvement included EHC and methadone supervision. The lowest involvement was for needle exchange and schemes for supporting carers. Community pharmacist's attitudinal ratings were generally positive towards the 'key service areas' suggested.