General Pharmaceutical Council research into public perceptions of pharmacy

Public Sector

The General Pharmaceutical Council has published findings from an Ipsos survey to gain a better insight into public perception of the pharmacy profession and pharmacy services.

 

New research conducted by Ipsos for the General Pharmaceutical Council in England, Scotland and Wales shows that the majority (87%) of people trust health advice from a pharmacist.

Although a family doctor or GP was the most common response from participants in terms of where to seek any health information, the survey demonstrates that pharmacists are seen as a key source of information for advice on medicines (40% said this) and for information about stopping smoking (15%).

The use of pharmacy in England, Scotland and Wales is relatively high with almost four in five (79%) participants saying they had visited a pharmacy at least once in the last 12 months and with medicinal transactions listed as the most common reason for a visit (65%).

Technical note:

  • Ipsos interviewed a representative sample of 1,160 members of the general public (aged 15+) in England, Scotland and Wales. Fieldwork was conducted between the 26th September and 6th October 2014, and between the 9th and 12th of October.
  • The number of responses in Scotland and Wales were boosted slightly to give sufficient numbers to allow for comparisons across countries where possible. 
  • All interviews were conducted face-to-face in participants’ homes using Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI).
  • Quotas were set and data weighted by age, gender and work status to the profile of the population of Great Britain aged 15+.
  • An asterisk (*) indicates a percentage of less than 0.5% but greater than zero.
  • Where percentages do not add up to 100 this is due to computer rounding or multiple responses. Base sizes of less than 100 should be treated with caution and these results seen as indicative only. Bases of less than 30 are presented as numbers rather than percentages; these should be treated with extreme caution and seen as indicative only.
  • Where differences in the responses of particular sub-groups are discussed in this report, only those differences that are statistically significant are reported

 

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