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Pharmaceutical care has been found to improve patients health status and reduce healthcare. However, it is still not implemented in some European countries, including Poland. This study aimed to investigate the patients satisfaction, expectations and the use of services provided in pharmacies in Poland and England. Anonymous questionnaires were distributed to community pharmacies in Poland and England between January and August 2011. The questionnaire consisted of 31 questions, gathered demographic data and patients views on different aspects of pharmaceutical services. The internal consistency of the survey and validation had been assessed prior to use. Questionnaires were collected from a total of 823 subjects. Considerably more English than Polish patients were interviewed by a pharmacist about symptom characteristics (77.9% vs.52.5%), their duration (70.5% vs. 41.5%), taking other medications (81.9% vs. 45.3%), and comorbidities (69.2% vs. 38.6%, p = 0.0001 each) when purchasing OTC drugs. 59.3% of patients in Poland compared with 91.3% of patients in England declared to have filled all the prescriptions (p < 0.001). Patients in England more frequently consulted pharmacists about conditions, whereas in Poland respondents preferred self-treatment or GP advice. Expectations for additional services, including: estimation of blood glucose (83.1% vs. 80.4% in Poland and England respectively, p = 0.3228), cholesterol (84.6% vs. 83.3%, p = 0.6146), or blood pressure measurements (85.5% vs. 85.9%, p = 0.8635), were similar in both countries. The range and quality of services provided in community pharmacies in Poland are substantially worse in comparison with those in England.Patients expectations in both countries bear similarities. Keywords: community pharmacy, healthcare, pharmaceutical care
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Acta Poloniae Pharmaceutica ñ Drug Research, Vol. 77 No. 5 pp. 805ñ813, 2020 ISSN 2353-5288
DOI: 10.32383/appdr/127797 Polish Pharmaceutical Society
Received 11 August 2020, Received in revised form 10 September 2020, Accepted 23 September 2020.
The past few years have seen the increasing
importance of pharmaceutical care that involves
providing the patient with medication-related care to
ensure greater safety and clinical efficacy (1-7).
Since the primary goal of pharmacists is to care for
patientsí well-being, it became significant to offer
professional services in pharmacies (8, 9).
Pharmaceutical care is considered to be an essential
part of healthcare in many countries (10, 11). Due to
the current trends in pharmaceutical marketing,
active pharmaceutical care (apart from being in line
with the mission of pharmacy practice) enables to
GENERAL
A COMPARISON OF PATIENT ATTITUDES TOWARDS COMMUNITY
PHARMACIES IN POLAND AND IN ENGLAND
PIOTR MERKS1,2,*, MARIOLA DROZD3, DAMIAN SWIECZKOWSKI4,
ARTUR BIALOSZEWSKI5, KATARINA FEHIR SOLA6, TOMASZ HAREZLAK7,
TOMIRA CHMIELEWSKA-IGNATOWICZ1and MILOSZ JAGUSZEWSKI4
1Faculty of Medicine, Collegium Medicum,
Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University in Warsaw, Poland
2Department of Pharmaceutical Technology of Pharmaceuticals, Faculty of Pharmacy, Ludwik Rydygier
Collegium Medicum in Bydgoszcz,
Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun, Bydgoszcz, Poland
3Department of Ethics and Medical Law, Medical University of Lublin, Lublin, Poland
41st Department of Cardiology, Faculty of Medicine,
Medical University of Gdansk, Poland
5Department of Prevention of Environmental Hazards and Allergology,
Medical University of Warsaw, Poland
6Ljekarna Bjelovar, Petra Preradovica 4, 43000 Bjeovar, Croatia
7Hospital Pharmacy, 10th Military Research Hospital and Polyclinic,
IPHC in Bydgoszcz, Poland
Abstract: Pharmaceutical care has been found to improve patientsí health status and reduce healthcare.
However, it is still not implemented in some European countries, including Poland. This study aimed to inves-
tigate the patientsí satisfaction, expectations and the use of services provided in pharmacies in Poland and
England. Anonymous questionnaires were distributed to community pharmacies in Poland and England
between January and August 2011. The questionnaire consisted of 31 questions, gathered demographic data and
patientsí views on different aspects of pharmaceutical services. The internal consistency of the survey and val-
idation had been assessed prior to use. Questionnaires were collected from a total of 823 subjects. Considerably
more English than Polish patients were interviewed by a pharmacist about symptom characteristics (77.9% vs.
52.5%), their duration (70.5% vs. 41.5%), taking other medications (81.9% vs. 45.3%), and comorbidities
(69.2% vs. 38.6%, p = 0.0001 each) when purchasing OTC drugs. 59.3% of patients in Poland compared with
91.3% of patients in England declared to have filled all the prescriptions (p < 0.001). Patients in England more
frequently consulted pharmacists about conditions, whereas in Poland respondents preferred self-treatment or
GP advice. Expectations for additional services, including: estimation of blood glucose (83.1% vs. 80.4% in
Poland and England respectively, p = 0.3228), cholesterol (84.6% vs. 83.3%, p = 0.6146), or blood pressure
measurements (85.5% vs. 85.9%, p = 0.8635), were similar in both countries. The range and quality of servic-
es provided in community pharmacies in Poland are substantially worse in comparison with those in England.
Patientsí expectations in both countries bear similarities.
Keywords: community pharmacy, healthcare, pharmaceutical care
805
* Corresponding author: e-mail: p.merks@uksw.edu.pl
806 PIOTR MERKS et al.
gain a competitive advantage. The primary parame-
ter that can be used to determine the quality of serv-
ices provided in a particular pharmacy is the assess-
ment of patient satisfaction (12). The patient who
uses high-quality pharmaceutical services actively
participates in making treatment decisions and forms
long-term relationships with healthcare providers,
which contributes to enhanced treatment efficacy
and improved clinical status (13, 14). Furthermore,
such a patient is more likely to visit a particular phar-
macy and thoroughly recommends its services.
Pharmaceutical care is being barely imple-
mented in Poland at present, although the provision
of pharmaceutical care as a part of pharmaceutical
services is mentioned in the Pharmaceutical
Chambers Act from 1991 that regulates the profes-
sion of pharmacist (15). Since then, only pilot pro-
grams were carried out, but they covered only cer-
tain areas of pharmaceutical care (16-18). New ini-
tiatives aimed at legislative changes that are neces-
sary to fully implement pharmaceutical care in the
Polish healthcare system are being undertaken by
the government (19). As many as 87% percent of
Poles declare that they trust pharmacists. When con-
sidering the pharmacist as a position of public trust
and a low number of physicians (the mean of 2.3 per
1,000 inhabitants in Poland compared with the mean
of 3.5 per 1,000 inhabitants in EU), the implementa-
tion of pharmaceutical care seems to be justified
(19).
The degree of commitment and the percentage
of pharmacists providing healthcare services
appears to be markedly higher in England than in
Poland (4). In the UK, a three-tier structure of phar-
maceutical services (consisting of essential,
advanced, and enhanced-level services) has been
used since 2005 (4). A pharmacist is often the first
point of contact for patients. Pharmacists in the UK
closely cooperate with addiction treatment centers,
can dispense emergency hormonal contraception or
administer influenza vaccines. Community pharma-
cists in the UK are recognized by the government as
essential contributors to public health and primary
healthcare (4). The budgetary allocations for phar-
maceutical care in the UK account for 0.53% of
gross domestic product (GDP) being the highest in
Europe (19).
This study investigates the patientsí satisfac-
tion with services provided in community pharma-
cies in Poland and England. To advance the under-
standing of differences in practice between the
countries, patientsí perceptions of pharmacies, phar-
macists and pharmaceutical services in both coun-
tries were measured.
EXPERIMENTAL
This cross-sectional study was carried out in
Poland (Masovian, Pomeranian and Lower Silesian
districts) and in England (Cambridgeshire, Essex,
Northamptonshire, and Norfolk ceremonial coun-
ties). Polish and English-language versions of the
anonymous questionnaires were distributed between
January and August 2011 to patients who visited
community pharmacies to fill the prescriptions. No
specific inclusion or exclusion criteria were applied.
All study participants were informed about the
anonymity, aims, and design of the survey. The
patients gave their consent to participate in the study
by returning completed questionnaires.
The questionnaires were primarily filled out in
the pharmacy and returned immediately to the phar-
macy team. Alternatively, patients could take them
home and scan them or take a photo with their
phone, then send the image via email to the pharma-
cy which originally handed it. We explained to the
pharmacy staff how to fill in the forms and the
options for delivering the questionnaires filled in by
the patients. After that, the pharmacies which decid-
ed to participate in the project forwarded the emails
to the researcher.
The study was approved by a Polish (AKBE/
74/12) and British bioethics committees (REF
04/26/50) (Research Ethical Approval).
The questionnaire consisted of 31 questions.
The first section focused on demographic data,
including patientsí age, sex, marital and profession-
al status. The second section of the questionnaire
was designed to gather patientsí opinions on differ-
ent aspects of pharmaceutical services using a five-
point Likert scale (1, strongly disagree; 2, disagree;
3, neither agree nor disagree; 4, agree; 5, strongly
agree). The questionnaire was validated by panel
members (in terms of face and content validity).
Panel discussions were held in Poland and England.
Each panel involved a total of 10 individuals,
including hospital pharmacist, professor of medi-
cine, pharmacy or public health, community phar-
macists, physicians, and patients. The internal con-
sistency and applied scales were assessed using
Cronbachís α(20). Data on the patientsí preferences
for particular pharmacies, included in the question-
naire, had been analyzed and published previously
(21).
All statistical analyses were carried out using
Statistica 12.0 (StatSoft) and Excel software
(Microsoft). Continuous variables were expressed as
means, standard deviations, medians, ranges, and
95% confidence intervals. Categorical variables
A comparison of patient attitudes towards community pharmacies in... 807
were presented as numbers and percentages. The
Shapiro-Wilk test was used to assess normality, and
the Leveneís (Brown-Forsythe) test was used to
assess the equality of variances. Studentís t-test (or
Welchís t-test in the case of inequality on vari-
ances), or the Mann-Whitney U test (if conditions
for Studentís t-test were not met or to analyze dis-
crete variables) were used to compare the two
groups. The F test (ANOVA) followed by post-hoc
Tukeyís test or the Kruskal-Wallis test (if conditions
for ANOVA were not met) followed by Dunnís test
were used to compare more than two groups. To
determine the differences between paired samples,
the paired t-test or the Wilcoxon signed-rank test
were used. The applied tests for multiple compar-
isons involved the repeated measures ANOVA or
the Friedman test. The χ2 tests for independence
(with Yatesí correction, evaluation of Cochran con-
Table 1. Demographic characteristics of the study groups.
Poland England Total P-value
(N = 418) (N = 405) (N = 823)
Sex
Female 308 (73.9%) 282 (69.6%) 590 (71.8%) 0.17781
Male 109 (26.1%) 123 (30.4%) 232 (28.2%)
Age, years
<20 8 (1.9%) 29 (7.2%) 37 (4.5%) 0.00012
20-29 271 (65.0%) 108 (26.7%) 379 (46.1%)
30-39 62 (14.9%) 75 (18.5%) 137 (16.7%)
40-49 34 (8.2%) 79 (19.5%) 113 (13.7%)
50-59 28 (6.7%) 62 (15.3%) 90 (10.9%)
60 14 (3.4%) 52 (12.8%) 66 (8.0%)
Marital status
Married 136 (32.9%) 217 (53.6%) 353 (43.1%) 0.00011
Single 261 (63.0%) 153 (37.8%) 414 (50.5%)
Widowed 7 (1.7%) 13 (3.2%) 20 (2.4%)
Divorced 10 (2.4%) 22 (5.4%) 32 (3.9%)
Education
Primary 7 (1.7%) 233 (59.4%) 240 (29.7%) 0.00012
Vocational 10 (2.4%) 57 (14.5%) 67 (8.3%)
Secondary 188 (45.1%) 23 (5.9%) 211 (26.1%)
Higher 212 (50.8%) 79 (20.2%) 291 (36.0%)
Profession
Healthcare professional 55 (13.3%) 129 (33.0%) 184 (22.9%) 0.00011
Office worker 145 (35.1%) 77 (19.7%) 222 (27.6%)
Businessman/businesswoman 20 (4.8%) 35 (9.0%) 55 (6.8%)
Physical worker 26 (6.3%) 87 (22.3%) 113 (14.1%)
Student 151 (36.6%) 40 (10.2%) 191 (23.8%)
Pensioner 16 (3.9%) 23 (5.9%) 39 (4.9%)
Place of residence
Village 60 (14.4%) 118 (29.4%) 178 (21.8%) 0.00012
Town < 100,000 inhabitants 112 (26.9%) 181 (45.0%) 293 (35.8%)
Town 100,000-500,000 inhabitants 73 (17.5%) 89 (22.1%) 162 (19.8%)
Town 500,000 inhabitants 171 (41.1%) 14 (3.5%) 185 (22.6%)
1χ2test; 2Mann-Whitney U test.
808 PIOTR MERKS et al.
ditions, or the Fisherís exact test, as appropriate)
were used to analyze the relationships between cat-
egorical variables. To investigate correlations
between variables, Pearson or Spearmanís correla-
tion coefficients were used. P values less than 0.05
were considered statistically significant.
RESULTS
Study group characteristics
Completed questionnaires were collected from
a total of 823 subjects. In Poland, 418 (50.8%) sub-
jects from 36 pharmacies responded to the question-
naire whereas, in England, data were gathered from
405 subjects (49.2%) from 56 pharmacies. Table 1
shows the demographic characteristics of the study
groups. Females predominated in both groups and
comprised 71.8% of the total subject sample. The
majority of Polish individuals were aged from 20 to
29 years (constituting 65% of all patients enrolled in
Poland), whereas the age distribution of English par-
ticipants was more equal, with 26.7% of the patients
aged from 20 to 29 years. Both study groups differed
significantly regarding age, marital status, education
as well as profession. Individuals in Poland were
predominantly single students living in large cities.
This was in contrast to a typical English respondent
who was a married healthcare professional living in
a town with less than 100,000 inhabitants.
Patientsí opinion on the quality of services
Patientsí opinions on the quality of services
provided in community pharmacies differed signifi-
cantly between the countries. Significantly higher
scores for all aspects of patient-pharmacist interac-
tions, such as ease of contact, pharmacistsí involve-
ment, and the quality of advice provided, were
obtained in England than in Poland (Table 2).
When purchasing OTC drugs, a high percent-
age of patients in England reported to have been
interviewed by a pharmacist about symptom charac-
teristics (77.9%), their duration (70.5%), taking
other medicines (81.9%), and comorbidities
(69.2%). The following corresponding percentages
Table 2. Patients' opinion on the quality of services provided by a pharmacist.
Poland England
Statement N = 418 N = 405
Mean* (SD) Mean*(SD) p-value
The pharmacist recognizes me and knows my name. 1.8 (1.3) 3.5 (1.6) 0.0001
The pharmacist is competent and meets my requirements. 3.6 (0.9) 4.4 (0.8) 0.0001
The pharmacist listens carefully what I am telling him/her. 3.8 (1.0) 4.4 (0.8) 0.0001
The pharmacist fully answers all my questions. 3.6 (1.0) 4.4 (0.8) 0.0001
I find my pharmacist trustworthy when he/she gives me adequate
advice and information. 3.6 (1.0) 4.4 (0.8) 0.0001
I am happy with my relationship with my pharmacist. 3.7 (1.0) 4.2 (1.0) 0.0001
The pharmacist is always involved, concerned and interested in my
health issues. 2.5 (1.2) 4.1 (1.1) 0.0001
I can ask my pharmacist all the questions regarding my health condition. 3.3 (1.2) 4.2 (1.0) 0.0001
When I talk to the pharmacist, I do not feel that he violates my privacy. 3.9 (1.1) 4.3 (0.9) 0.0001
Good advice offered by the pharmacist makes me want to come to
him/her again. 3.6 (1.1) 4.4 (0.9) 0.0001
The pharmacist speaks clearly using simple words and understandable
language. 3.9 (0.9) 4.4 (0.8) 0.0001
I am fully satisfied with the pharmacist's answers to my questions. 3.7 (0.9) 4.4 (0.8) 0.0001
The pharmacist is always available and eager to help. 3.6 (1.0) 4.3 (0.9) 0.0001
I am served quickly and efficiently at my pharmacy. 3.4 (1.2) 4.2 (0.9) 0.0001
I am convinced that the pharmacist will never reveal any of my private
information from the consultation. 3.4 (1.2) 4.5 (0.8) 0.0001
Overall grade 51.1 (11.0) 64.1 (11.7) 0.0001
*Patients' opinions were evaluated on a five point scale, where 1 corresponds to 'strongly disagree', and 5 - 'strongly gree' statement). SD,
standard deviation;. Mann-Whitney U Test.
A comparison of patient attitudes towards community pharmacies in... 809
were significantly lower in Poland: 28.4%, 13.8%,
10.2%, 6.1%, respectively (p = 0.0001 for each pair-
wise comparison).
Prescription filling
Only 59.3% of patients in Poland compared
with 91.3% of patients in England declared to have
filled all prescriptions (p < 0.001). The most com-
mon reasons for failure to fill the prescriptions were:
stockpiles of medications at home (9.4% of all indi-
viduals), treatment concerns (8.5%), and financial
issues (6.8%).
Sources of medical information
Overall, patientsí preferences as to where to
seek medical advice on the analyzed conditions dif-
fered significantly between England and Poland (p
= 0.0001 for each pairwise comparison). In
England, for most individuals who reported itchi-
ness or a rash, migraine, hay fever, and eye condi-
tions, the pharmacy was the first place they consid-
ered visiting (Fig. 1). On the contrary, the majority
of Polish patients preferred to consult a GP when
experiencing itching, a rash or eye problems, and to
treat themselves for the symptoms of migraine or
hay fever (Fig. 2). If the urinary tract infection was
suspected, most patients from both Poland and
England consulted a GP. Similarly, in both coun-
tries, the highest percentages of patients practiced
self-care to treat burns, cuts, headaches, dizziness,
cold, fever, gastrointestinal disorders, and menstru-
al pain.
Patientsí expectations for pharmacy services
A similar rate of patients in Poland and
England expressed their interest in additional servic-
es that could be provided in pharmacies, such as
estimation of blood glucose, cholesterol, and blood
pressure measurements. English patients were more
likely to be able to measure body weight/body mass
index. A considerable proportion of patients would
like to receive training and education in the use of
inhalers, glucometers, or blood pressure monitors in
their pharmacy. Likewise, more than one in three of
the patients were enthusiastic about obtaining infor-
mation from the pharmacists on healthy eating, diet,
and physical activity as well as being supported in
quitting addictions, like alcohol drinking, smoking,
or drugs (Table 3).
Figure 1. Sources of first aid and medical advice in England. GP, general practitioner.
810 PIOTR MERKS et al.
DISCUSSION
This study has shown that there were wide
variations between Polish and English patients in
terms of their views and expectations about the pro-
vision of pharmaceutical care by community phar-
macists. The level of patient satisfaction with pro-
vided services was generally higher in England
compared with Poland. This can be attributed to the
limited availability of pharmaceutical care services
in Poland, while in England they are widely imple-
mented and financed by the National Health
Service. According to our findings, the majority of
patients purchasing OTC medications in England
were interviewed by a pharmacist about the duration
and characteristics of symptoms as well as potential
risks associated with the treatment. In Poland, less
than half of patients declared to have had such con-
sultations. Furthermore, they were also less eager to
seek advice from a pharmacist in the case of various
common illnesses and conditions than patients in
England. This was associated with a greater tenden-
cy for self-care among Polish patients.
In England, the active role of pharmacists in
healthcare is well-established. Compared with phar-
macists in Poland, they have many more roles and
responsibilities, including renewing prescriptions
for chronic conditions, administering influenza vac-
cines, measuring glucose and ketone bodies levels in
the blood, and monitoring blood pressure (22).
Pharmaceutical care in the UK often provides some
definite outcomes. For example, it was demonstrat-
ed that pharmacist-conducted medication reviews
were effective in the elderly with heart failure.
Moreover, most recommendations offered by a
pharmacist were further approved by a general prac-
titioner (23). Therefore, English pharmacists
became an essential part of the healthcare system.
This critical role of pharmacists in England was con-
firmed in this study ñ a pharmacistsí advice
appeared to be more preferable to general practi-
tionersí in various medical conditions.
The need for implementation of pharmaceuti-
cal care in Poland has been perceived and exten-
sively discussed for several years (24, 25), but the
availability of such services in community pharma-
cies remains very limited (26, 27). Two pharmaceu-
tical care pilot programs involving patients with
hypertension were accomplished thus far. They
showed that a pharmacist can broaden patientsí
knowledge of the disease, improve their clinical
conditions, and reduce the amount of drug-related
Figure 2. Sources of first aid and medical advice in Poland. GP, general practitioner.
A comparison of patient attitudes towards community pharmacies in... 811
problems (17, 18). Currently, systemic implementa-
tion of pharmaceutical care is to be achieved in
Poland as well as in other European countries, such
as Croatia, Serbia, Romania, or Montenegro (26).
Though it was observed that patients tended to prac-
tice self-care in Poland, the rate of health illiteracy
in this country is relatively high compared with
other European countries. Only 42% of patients
would adherence to treatment regimens or recom-
mendations, whereas 32% would have serious prob-
lems with following medical advice (19). Analysis
of drug-related problems in an outpatient unit found
that the occurrence of adverse drug events or lack of
efficacy of pharmacotherapy among Polish patients
with chronic conditions was common (28). These
issues could be dealt with, at least to some extent, by
the provision of medical support by community
pharmacists, especially if bearing in mind that a
third of adverse events are due to OTC drugs taken
alone or in combination with prescription drugs
(28).
Surprisingly, our previous findings suggested
that the vital factors predisposing patients to visit a
particular pharmacy in both Poland and England
werenít low prices of medications but convenient
location and high quality of services (21). This is in
contrast to the increasing importance of marketing
strategies, e.g., price reduction, observed in Polish
pharmacies that result from intense competition in
the pharmaceutical market. This, along with the
results of the present study, highlights the key role
of high-quality services and specialized support pro-
vided by pharmacists in managing patient care.
Additionally, our findings demonstrated that in spite
of apparent discrepancy in both quality of services
and availability of pharmaceutical care service
between Poland and England, patientsí expectations
for the provision of various services in community
pharmacies are very similar. This suggests that
patients in Poland expect to receive pharmaceutical
care, which would possibly facilitate the potential
implementation of these services. In our previous
study, more respondents preferred to visit a particu-
lar pharmacy in England than in Poland, which indi-
cates that pharmaceutical care can ensure patientsí
loyalty and strengthen the position of the pharma-
cists in the highly competitive market (21).
12% of the population in Poland and only 4%
of the EU population reported unmet treatment
needs. Long waiting times to access the specialist
consultations are the main reason why healthcare
availability is restricted (19). In 2016, patients in
Poland waited 363 days to receive a specialized
medical procedure, which is much longer than in the
OECD where the average time was 113 days (19).
Moreover, almost 40% of Poles suffer from chronic
diseases (19). Services provided by community
pharmacists could manage such patients (29).
Table 3. Patients' expectations for additional services that could be provided in community pharmacies.
Poland England
Service N = 418 N = 405 P value
N%N %
Measurements
Glucose 343 83.1% 315 80.4% 0.3228
Cholesterol 347 84.6% 330 83.3% 0.6146
Blood pressure 353 85.5% 335 85.9% 0.8635
Body weight/BMI 325 78.7% 317 83.9% 0.0632
Trainings
Inhalers 182 44.6% 186 49.9% 0.1415
Glucometers 168 41.2% 179 48.0% 0.0556
Blood pressure monitors 181 44.4% 197 52.8% 0.0182
Advice
Healthy eating and diet 264 64.2% 211 55.4% 0.0111
Physical activity 152 37.0% 146 38.3% 0.6979
Help with addictions 155 37.7% 137 36.0% 0.6090
Personal hygiene 100 24.3% 67 17.6% 0.0211
χ2test.
812 PIOTR MERKS et al.
Pharmaceutical care is associated with significant
healthcare cost reduction. Asheville Project studies
showed that pharmaceutical care provided to
patients with three different chronic conditions,
including diabetes mellitus, asthma, and hyperten-
sion/dyslipidemia, not only improves the patientsí
condition but also produces considerable healthcare
savings (30-32). A recent study investigating the
financial impact of pharmaceutical care revealed
that managing patients with chronic diseases in 12
pharmacies was cost-effective and generated a net
profit of $ 60,023 over 3 years (33). It is estimated
that pharmaceutical care in Poland could lead to sav-
ings in healthcare costs of over 4 billion Polish zlo-
tys (PLN), which means that it can be implemented
without burdening the government budget (19, 34,
35).
There are about 15 000 pharmacies in Poland
and 26 000 pharmacists who are appropriately qual-
ified to be actively involved in the patient care
process (19). Such engagement of pharmacists
seems to be crucial considering a steady decrease in
the number of physicians and nurses along with
growing demand for healthcare in the aging society.
CONCLUSIONS
This study has shown that, according to
patientsí opinions, the range, as well as the quality
of services provided in community pharmacies in
Poland, are substantially worse in comparison with
those in England. However, patientsí expectations
and needs in both countries bear similarities. These
findings indicate that there is a great need to imple-
ment pharmaceutical care in Poland as a part of the
healthcare system. Moreover, they may contribute to
the effective and quick implementation of the phar-
maceutical care concept in Polish medical practice.
Acknowledgments
I would like to sincerely thank all the persons,
companies, and organizations listed below for their
contribution to our research: for support in the
implementation of research and the improvement of
pharmaceutical care standards in Poland, the District
Pharmaceutical Chamber in Warsaw, Boots the
Chemist Ltd for a contribution to research in the fol-
lowing departments: 1570 Grafton Center,
Cambridge, 140 Huntingdon, 42 High Street.
Hundingdon, 156 St. Neots, 33 High Street, St.
Neots, 167 St. Ives, 5-6 Sheep Market, St Ives, 171
Ely, 6-8 Market Street, Ely, 85 Petty Cure,
Cambridge, Lloyds Pharmacy, Cox & Robinson,
Tesco Ltd, Numark Pharmacy, Beth Allen
(Research Manager at the Royal Pharmaceutical
Society ), The Ministry of Health, Alina Fornal
(President of the Pharmaceutical Council), Professor
David Wright, University of East Anglia, Norwich,
United Kingdom, Professor Woody Caan, England
Ruskin University, Cambridge, Professor Edmund
Sieradzki, Alistair Baxton (Head of the Negotiation
Committee Of Pharmaceutical Services), Tuomas
Kilpelainen, Department of Metabolic Genetics,
Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic
Metabolic Research, University of Copenhagen,
Denmark, Dr Sabine Walser (European Directorate
for Drug Quality), Deborah Evans MRPharmS Head
of Pharmacy, National Pharmaceutical Association,
Ministry of Health, United Kingdom, State
Dobrzanski, Deputy Head of Pharmacy, Bradford
Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust, United
Kingdom, Dr Chafice Dehili, University of
Nottingham, United Kingdom, Dr. Matthew Allan,
Westmead Hospital, Sydney, Australia, Dr. farm.
Agnieszka Biaa, University of Manitoba,
Winnipeg, Canada, Dr. n. med. Micha Stuss,
Department of Endocrine Disorders, £Ûdü, Rev.
David Brown, Diocese of Blackburn the United
Parish of St Peterís Church, Scorton, All Saintsí
Church, Barnacre St Johnís Church, Calder Vale,
Aleksandra Olszewska, St. Peterís Hospital,
Guildford Road, Chertsey, Surrey, United Kingdom,
Maria Kotowska-H‰ggstrˆm, Department of
Womenís and Child Health, University of Uppsala,
Uppsala, Sweden, and the Polish Pharmaceutical
Society. I would like to thank all who completed our
questionnaires, as well as pharmacists in Poland and
England who devoted their time asking patients to
complete our questionnaires.
Funding
This research received no specific grant from
any funding agency in the public, commercial, or
not-for-profit sectors.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that there is no conflict of
interest.
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... The patient's perspective is valuable for the assessment of pharmacist-patient communication. For example, recent studies evaluated pharmaceutical services from the patient's perspective (Bratkowska et al., 2020;Merks et al., 2020). A study conducted in Romania highlights the need to increase communication skills and build a professional relationship with the patient. ...
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Pharmacy's opportunity to mature as a profession by accepting its social responsibility to reduce preventable drug-related morbidity and mortality is explored. Pharmacy has shed the apothecary role but has not yet been restored to its erst-while importance in medical care. It is not enough to dispense the correct drug or to provide sophisticated pharmaceutical services; nor will it be sufficient to devise new technical functions. Pharmacists and their institutions must stop looking inward and start redirecting their energies to the greater social good. Some 12,000 deaths and 15,000 hospitalizations due to adverse drug reactions (ADRs) were reported to the FDA in 1987, and many went unreported. Drug-related morbidity and mortality are often preventable, and pharmaceutical services can reduce the number of ADRs, the length of hospital stays, and the cost of care. Pharmacists must abandon factionalism and adopt patient-centered pharmaceutical care as their philosophy of practice. Changing the focus of practice from products and biological systems to ensuring the best drug therapy and patient safety will raise pharmacy's level of responsibility and require philosophical, organizational, and functional changes. It will be necessary to set new practice standards, establish cooperative relationships with other health-care professions, and determine strategies for marketing pharmaceutical care. Pharmacy's reprofessionalization will be completed only when all pharmacists accept their social mandate to ensure the safe and effective drug therapy of the individual patient.
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Noyce P.R.: Ann. Pharmacother. 41, 861 (2007).
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Van Mil J.W.F.: Ann. Pharmacother. 39, 1720 (2005).
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