Counselling and advice on medicines and appliances in community pharmacy practice

Summary And Recommendations

1. Pharmacists have a professional responsibility to recognise and/or assess and meet the counselling and advice needs of patients in relation to their use of medicines/appliances ( Sections 2.1.1 and 2.1.4, Annex A2).

2. Patients should be made aware that counselling and advice on medicines/appliances is offered as a professional service by the pharmacy ( Section 2.1.4).

3. Pharmacists must respect the confidentiality of information acquired in the course of professional practice relating to a patient and the patient's family. In this regard they are bound by Principle 4 of the Code of Ethics of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain ( Annex A2).

4. Pharmacists should liaise closely with general practitioners and other health care professionals ( Sections 1.4 and 1.5).

5. Pharmacists should ensure that they have the knowledge and skills required to provide counselling and advice to patients effectively and efficiently ( Section 2.1.4 and Annex A3).

6. Counselling should be carried out in an environment which is non-threatening and conducive to forming good relationships between the pharmacist and patients or carers ( Section 2.1.4).

7. All appropriate sources of information should be used to assess relevant patient and medication/appliance factors in order to recognise and prioritise the needs for counselling and advice. The use of patient medication records is to be encouraged ( Section 2.1.2).

8. For each identified need pharmacists should specify a desired output and method of assessing whether that output is achieved ( Section 2.1.3).

9. Aids to comprehension and/or compliance should be used where necessary to meet an individual patient's needs ( Section 2.1.4).

10. Pharmacists should ensure that patients have an appropriate level of understanding and are able to comply with instructions for the use of their medicines/appliances ( Section 2.1.5).

11. Where direct patient contact is not possible, the pharmacist may have to assess the need for counselling indirectly by discussion with a carer, relative or representative of the patient ( Section 2.1.1).

12. Documentation of counselling and advisory activities is to be encouraged for the purposes of continuity of care, self-audit or research. Audit and research may be used to review and develop standards of counselling and advice ( Section 2.1.5 and Annexes A4 and A5).

13. Summary Of The Recommended Steps In The Counselling Process