Enter and View Report: Bell Pharmacy

What is an Enter and View visit?

The Health and Social Care Act 2012 allows local Healthwatch Authorised Representatives to observe service delivery and talk to service users, their families and carers on premises such as hospitals, care homes, GP practices, and pharmacies. We also interview management and staff regarding their views of the service provided. The aim is to get an impartial view of how the service is operated and being experienced.

Enter and View visits can be arranged if people tell us there’s a problem with a service, but equally, they can also occur when services have a good reputation – so we can learn about and share examples of what they do well from the perspective of people who experience the service first hand.

Following the visits, our official ‘Enter and View Report’, will be shared with the service provider, local commissioners and regulators outlining what has worked well, and give recommendations on what could have worked better. All reports are available to view on our website.

Project Background

On 31^st January 2024, the government and NHS England launched the Pharmacy First Scheme to give patients quick and accessible care, and ease pressures on GP services. It allows community pharmacies to independently supply prescription-only medication, including antibiotics and antivirals where clinically appropriate.

Based on online feedback, Bell Pharmacy has an excellent reputation regarding the quality of service provided. The aim of the visit was to observe the service quality at Bell Pharmacy and gather patient feedback, specifically pertaining to the sentiment towards the Pharmacy First Scheme.

Overall, our visit to Bell Pharmacy was very positive with some areas of improvement identified. The pharmacy excelled aspects such as accessibility, environment and information displayed. The following were the recommendations for improvement, to which the pharmacy manager has responded to within the full report:

1. Improve the accessibility of the entrance and visibility of pharmacy signboard.
2. Organise posters based on importance and size to increase visibility.
3. Consider escalating the ongoing concerns with referrals from GP practices and eligible patient access to the Selfcare Advice Service.
4. Provide more training opportunities for staff members and implement more robust accessibility accommodation.

A highlight of the report is staff observation that referrals to the pharmacy from GP practices and emergency services remained very low, and most patients were self-referring rather than being directed by healthcare providers. Furthermore, concerns regarding patient access to the Community Pharmacy Selfcare Advice Service and on-going issues with local GP practices, which have been escalated to the Local Pharmaceutical Committee (LPC).