Planning a Research Study?Think Community Pharmacy

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Community pharmacies are hubs of local healthcare activity which can make a valuable contribution to research in the NHS. If you are planning a research study, why not unlock the potential of community pharmacies to support and enhance study design and delivery?

The benefits of involving community pharmacy in research design and delivery

• Raising patient and public awareness of opportunities to get involved in researchPromoting suitable research studies to patients and the public (e.g. leaflets, posters)Identifying suitable study participants (e.g. opportunistically or through relevant clinics or via searches of the patient medication record)Recruiting to studies (e.g. obtaining valid informed consent)Supporting or delivering an intervention (e.g. taking samples, running clinics, managing patient data)Storing and dispensing clinical trial medicationAdvising on study design and feasibility of delivery in community pharmacyProviding expert advice on medicines use and optimisation

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Why Community Pharmacy?

Pharmacists have five years education (to Masters Level) and training. They offer expertise in medicines use and optimisation to patients and the public, together with health promotion, advice and signposting. There are around 13,000 community pharmacies in GB. Community pharmacies can be sole retailers, small businesses/chains, national chains or supermarket based (in both urban and rural settings), and encompass a diverse demography and ethnicity.They deal with the general public on a daily basis, with considerable opportunity to interact with patients about their healthcare. The patient and public population base is complementary to, but different from that of GPs – often with greater access to hard to reach groups. Pharmacists can also help patients and the public decide whether they need to see a doctor.On average people visit community pharmacies 14 times per year for any reason and 11 times per year for health related reasons. Community pharmacies are easily accessible – 99% of the population can get to a pharmacy within 20 minutes by car and 96% by walking or using public transport. The majority of people (60%) visit the same pharmacy all of the time and around a third of people (27%) visit a variety of pharmacies but one pharmacy most often. Most pharmacies now have a private consultation area where patients can discuss issues with pharmacy staff without being overheard by other members of the public and appointments are not necessary.Some pharmacies are Research Ready accredited. Research Ready is an online self-accreditation scheme for community pharmacies. Research Ready Accreditation ensures that community pharmacy teams are competent and confident to support research delivery and are compliant with the basic requirements for undertaking research in the UK (aligned with the latest research governance frameworks).

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What range of services do community pharmacies offer?

• high quality health advice, such as help with quitting smoking and weight managementadvice about, and treatment of, minor ailments and conditions without prescriptionsafe disposal of unwanted medicinesadvice on where to go for further care and treatmentprescription dispensing

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All community pharmacies will offer the following services:

Other services which community pharmacies may provide include:

treatment of long-term conditions, such as diabetes, heart problems and asthmasupervising and administering the correct dosage of prescribed medicinesproviding emergency contraceptiondiagnostic testing and monitoring (e.g. diabetes, blood pressure and others)needle and syringe exchange for substance misusersproviding very specialist medicines including oral chemotherapy tabletssupport and advice for those in care homes

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Not all pharmacies will offer all of the above services, but most will provide a range of services. For more information about community pharmacy services, see NHS Choices (England), NHS 24 (Scotland) and NHS Wales.

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How to access community pharmacies

If you want to engage community pharmacies in your study there are a number of ways to do this, dependent on your study design. The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Clinical Research Network (CRN) can support you if your study is on the NIHR Clinical Research Network Portfolio.

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society can assist you in a variety of ways:

Helping to identify and engage community pharmacies locally, nationally or throughout Great Britain. Options include:

Providing access to community pharmacies that are Research Ready accredited.Providing advice on approaching your Local Pharmaceutical Committee (LPC) to seek support from local pharmacy contractors.Advising on how to contact the head office of a large pharmacy chain to seek advice and support, where appropriate.Providing advice on collaborating with local Schools of Pharmacy in Higher Education Institutes, where relevant.

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Attending and presenting your study to a RPS Local Practice Forum (LPF) to seek involvement and input from individual pharmacists.Posting study details on relevant RPS online networks.

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Through provision of a wide range of services, expertise in medicines management and access to a wide range of patients and the public, community pharmacies are an ideal resource for conducting research. Think Pharmacy!

To find out more about community pharmacy and how it might support research study design and delivery, contact:

Royal Pharmaceutical Society: practiceresearch@rpharms.com +44 (0)20 7572 2278

For further information about Royal Pharmaceutical Society Research Ready Accreditation Scheme, contact: researchready@rpharms.com or visit: www.rpharms.com/researchready

To find out how NIHR CRN: Primary care can support you, contact: crnprimarycare@nihr.ac.uk +44 (0)20 3328 6712 or visit www.crn.nihr.ac.uk/primarycare/

1. Central Office of Information 2008 Community Pharmacy Use - Quantitative and Qualitative Research. Market Research Report. Department of Health2. RPS Research Ready. (http://www.rpharms.com/researchready)3. RPS Local Practice Forums (LPFs) are local pharmacy professional networks that provide support for career development, professional practice and networking opportunities.4. Local Pharmaceutical Committees (LPCs) represent all NHS pharmacy contractors in a specific region. LPCs are recognised by local NHS Primary Care Organisations and are consulted on local matters affecting pharmacy contractors. (lpc-online.org.uk/)

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