Have your say on Pharmacy services

Date published: 17 July 2010

People living in Bury are being asked to give their views on services offered by Community Pharmacies.

Local people are being asked to give their views as part of an assessment of the overall quality and availability of pharmacy services within the town.

Views are being collected via a questionnaire and NHS Bury, the local leader of the NHS, will use the results to shape future plans for the provision of pharmacy services. These plans will be set out in a document known as a ‘Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment’. The document will look at current services, any identified gaps, and will be used to prioritise service developments in the future.

Following feedback from the questionnaire, the draft Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment will be available from September 2010 and will be subject to a formal consultation, before the final document is published.

Dr. Peter Elton, Director of Public Health for NHS Bury said:

"Pharmacists have provided an increasing range of services from health checks to needle exchanges in addition to their traditional role of dispensing and advising on drugs. We want to enable pharmacists to use their expertise to meet the needs and expectation of local residents. To help us do this, we are seeking the views of patients, members of the public, staff and others about a range of issues from opening times, services offered, to ease of access and parking. I would encourage people to spend a few minutes to give their views and help shape this process.”

Local people can give their views in a number of ways: 

• Hard copies can be accessed by calling 0161 762 7334 
• NHS Bury’s Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) will also be taking the questionnaire out to the local community during the team’s community outreach work

The closing date for completing the questionnaire is Friday 13 August 2010.