As part of work carried out in Kent, Surrey and Sussex in 2015, a group of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians (from all sectors of practice) along with patients discussed the role of pharmacy in urgent care and what could be done to further it. Patient representatives who attended the discussion groups welcomed the support from community pharmacy, but it was apparent that they were unaware of some areas of practice that teams assume everyone knows about. 

One of the discussions suggested the concept of community pharmacy as a €haven of care€ that offers a place of safety or refuge. This seemed to sum up what the pharmacy team members wanted to offer, as well as what the patients recognised they needed. However, the patients felt that people would only see community pharmacy as an effective place to access urgent care services if it was made explicit that pharmacies offer a safe place to go to when help is needed. Community pharmacy therefore needs to make its role in offering urgent care services clear to customers so that when help is needed unexpectedly, they remember that pharmacies are a source of help.

The group discussed the elements of care that are important in community pharmacy. Their key findings included the following:

• Customers and patients should feel welcome and have somewhere to rest if needed
• The pharmacist needs to be willing to take responsibility for making a decision on advice or treatment if they are to be seen as a provider of urgent care
• Providing care means that the pharmacist will follow up any treatment or advice, as appropriate.