TY - JOUR
T1 - Emergency contraception from the pharmacy 20 years on
T2 - a mystery shopper study
AU - Glasier, Anna
AU - Baraitser, Paula
AU - McDaid, Lisa
AU - Norrie, John
AU - Radley, Andrew
AU - Stephenson, Judith M.
AU - Battison, Claire
AU - Gilson, Richard
AU - Cameron, Sharon
N1 - © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2020. Re-use permitted under CC BY. Published by BMJ.
PY - 2021/1/12
Y1 - 2021/1/12
N2 - BACKGROUND: Emergency contraception (EC) was approved in the UK as a pharmacy medicine for purchase without prescription in 2001. Twenty years later we conducted a study to characterise routine practice pharmacy provision of EC. STUDY DESIGN: Mystery shopper study of 30 pharmacies in Edinburgh, Dundee and London participating in a clinical trial of contraception after EC. METHODS: Mystery shoppers, aged ≥16 years, followed a standard scenario requesting EC. After the pharmacy visit, they completed a proforma recording the duration of the consultation, where it took place, and whether advice was given to them about the importance of ongoing contraception after EC. RESULTS: Fifty-five mystery shopper visits were conducted. The median reported duration of the consultation with the pharmacist was 6 (range 1-18) min. Consultations took place in a private room in 34 cases (62%) and at the shop counter in the remainder. In 27 cases (49%) women received advice about ongoing contraception. Eleven women (20%) left the pharmacy without EC due to lack of supplies or of a trained pharmacist. Most women were generally positive about the consultation. CONCLUSIONS: While availability of EC from UK pharmacies has undoubtedly improved access, the necessity to have a consultation, however helpful, with a pharmacist introduces delays and around one in five of our mystery shoppers left without getting EC. Consultations in private are not always possible and little advice is given about ongoing contraception. It is time to make EC available without a pharmacy consultation.
AB - BACKGROUND: Emergency contraception (EC) was approved in the UK as a pharmacy medicine for purchase without prescription in 2001. Twenty years later we conducted a study to characterise routine practice pharmacy provision of EC. STUDY DESIGN: Mystery shopper study of 30 pharmacies in Edinburgh, Dundee and London participating in a clinical trial of contraception after EC. METHODS: Mystery shoppers, aged ≥16 years, followed a standard scenario requesting EC. After the pharmacy visit, they completed a proforma recording the duration of the consultation, where it took place, and whether advice was given to them about the importance of ongoing contraception after EC. RESULTS: Fifty-five mystery shopper visits were conducted. The median reported duration of the consultation with the pharmacist was 6 (range 1-18) min. Consultations took place in a private room in 34 cases (62%) and at the shop counter in the remainder. In 27 cases (49%) women received advice about ongoing contraception. Eleven women (20%) left the pharmacy without EC due to lack of supplies or of a trained pharmacist. Most women were generally positive about the consultation. CONCLUSIONS: While availability of EC from UK pharmacies has undoubtedly improved access, the necessity to have a consultation, however helpful, with a pharmacist introduces delays and around one in five of our mystery shoppers left without getting EC. Consultations in private are not always possible and little advice is given about ongoing contraception. It is time to make EC available without a pharmacy consultation.
KW - contraceptive agents, female
KW - contraceptives, postcoital
KW - pharmaceutical services
KW - surveys and questionnaires
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85100070544&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1136/bmjsrh-2020-200648
DO - 10.1136/bmjsrh-2020-200648
M3 - Article
C2 - 32554399
VL - 47
SP - 55
EP - 60
JO - BMJ Sexual & Reproductive Health
JF - BMJ Sexual & Reproductive Health
SN - 2515-1991
IS - 1
ER -