What have you told us about pharmacy services in 2024?
Between January and October 2024, through our Mental Health Voice (MHV) project, we heard from 37 people about their experiences with pharmacy services.
These experiences were a mix of both positive and negative interactions. 61% of the feedback that we received was negative, compared with 31% which was positive.
Younger people were more likely to have a positive experience. 71% of the feedback we received from 25-34 year olds was positive, compared with those aged 45 and older where just 17% of the feedback was positive.
We heard more than double the pieces of feedback from women than men, and women were more likely to have a positive experience of using a pharmacy service than men. The group most likely to have a positive experience was women aged 25-34; of the seven individuals in this group that we heard from 6 had a positive experience.
I have anxiety and was getting really worried about getting my flu jab quickly. The pharmacy was very good though
So how did pharmacy services perform in comparison to other services?
When compared to the sentiment of feedback that we received on other services, the feedback that we received on pharmacy services was slightly more positive, at 31% of all feedback compared to 27% of feedback on non-pharmacy services being positive.
The proportion of negative feedback on Pharmacy services and non-Pharmacy services was roughly comparable, with 61% of Pharmacy feedback being negative and 60% of non-Pharmacy feedback being negative.
The greatest difference between the feedback we received on pharmacy services and non-pharmacy services was the sentiment of the feedback from women. On non-pharmacy services, 26% of the feedback we received from women was positive, and this increased to 41% for feedback from women on Pharmacy services.
I was forced to contact six other local pharmacies to see if they could supply these particular needles. Sadly for me, they were unable to do this
What have we done with this feedback?
We value your feedback and want to make sure that your voice is heard around your experiences of pharmacy services. Our full report was sent to inform the Kent and Medway Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment, making sure that your voice is at the centre of decisions that are being made.
Additionally this full report was presented to the Healthwatch England roundtable on the Pharmacy First scheme, where it will be co-ordinated with feedback received from across England to be involved in national decisions.
None of this is possible without hearing you experiences, which can be shared with us at any time through our Have Your Say form.
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