Chemists fail to give customers correct medical advice

Most small chemists' shops visited in an undercover consumer investigation failed to give proper medical advice, a report reveals today.

Most small chemists' shops visited in an undercover consumer investigation failed to give proper medical advice, a report reveals today.

Researchers from Which? magazine asked pharmacists for help at 84 independent, chain and supermarket stores in England, Scotland and Wales. Overall they received an "unsatisfactory" service on 35 occasions ­ 40 per cent.

But advice was deficient in almost two-thirds of the visits to independent pharmacies. Chain stores such as Boots and some supermarket pharmacies fared better.

Experts who examined the recorded conversations between pharmaceutical staff and researchers felt that many employees gave "poor advice" and failed to ask relevant questions.

The report said the findings were particularly worrying given the Government's plans to expand the role of pharmacists later this year, allowing them to issue repeat prescriptions without involving a GP, and selling medicines previously dispensed on a prescription-only basis.

Which? said that if researchers' symptoms had been genuine they could now be taking inappropriate drugs, suffering from serious untreated infections or dealing with an unplanned pregnancy.

The worst advice was given to researchers who said they were suffering from persistent diarrhoea after visiting Malaysia. These symptoms may need treatment with antibiotics and failure to visit a doctor could lead to delays in dealing with a serious infection.

The researchers were told to visit a doctor in only seven cases out of 21. In 14 instances they were sold inappropriate treatments and 15 out of the 21 visits were classed as unsatisfactory.

When seeking advice about emergency contraception, six out of 21 visits were found to be unsatisfactory. Despite asking for privacy, fewer than half the researchers were taken to a discreet area and in seven cases other staff and customers were within hearing range.

The team also asked for the herbal medicine St John's Wort as an aid to sleep, which can make the contraceptive pill less effective and increase the risk of unwanted pregnancy.

In two cases, researchers were not even referred to a pharmacist after asking for the product and one assistant said that it was "fine to take with the pill". Overall, five out of 21 visits were found to be unsatisfactory.

In a fourth investigation, in which researchers asked for low-dose aspirin, the advice given on preventing heart attacks and strokes was "often poor or non-existent", the report says, with nine visits deemed unsatisfactory out of 21 cases.

Malcolm Coles. editor of Which?, said it was impossible, on the basis of the research, for consumers to have confidence in the advice offered by pharmacists or their assistants. "While we welcome the Government's plan to extend pharmacists' roles, if it wants us to rely more heavily on them it's vital they are properly equipped to provide correct information about medicines and to offer general health advice," he said.

A spokesman for the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, which regulates pharmacists, said that it would be conducting an inquiry into the findings. "It is extremely disappointing that the service provided in some of the pharmacies surveyed appears not to have matched up to expectations," the spokesman said. "It is our role to protect the public from poor practice and we shall be investigating these incidents and taking appropriate action."

Rosie Winterton, a Health minister, said the Government was committed to building on the trust and confidence the public had in pharmacists. "We are discussing a new contractual framework for NHS community pharmacies which will require on-going training programmes for pharmacists and other staff which will be monitored by local NHS primary care trusts," she said.