Patient-centred care is no longer a destination for community pharmacists: it could be argued that we are already there. With the recruitment of fellow colleagues into GP practices and another recent proposal to locate pharmacists within nursing home settings, the landscape for the profession looks set to change significantly.

However, we are feeling the pressure of change. Set against an uncertain background of funding cuts, inconsistent local commissioning and the introduction of the new National Living Wage, many pharmacies and pharmaciststs are under pressure and finding it difficult to negotiate the demands of daily practice.

While we must demonstrate a concerted effort to develop the profession and recover appropriate remuneration, the patient is central to our profession. Increasingly, we are exposed to populations with a diversity of needs and expectations. According to the Royal College of Physicians, 25 per cent of Britain’s population is now over 60 years of age, and half of this group have a chronic condition.¹

Despite the many challenges and pressures, community pharmacy must be able to deliver patients the time they deserve. When patients engage with a community pharmacy’s service, they are doing so in their valuable time. The quality of that time will dictate whether they use that pharmacy’s services again.

In a study of Canadian community pharmacies, 50 per cent of patients said they expected to spend three to five minutes with a pharmacist (excluding dispensing), and 27 per cent expected to spend six to 10 minutes talking to a pharmacist. The pharmacist’s customer service and expertise are both key to the success of the patient-pharmacist relationship.²

In a survey of Scottish community pharmacies, patients were asked which factors would encourage them to ask a pharmacist for advice. Their responses included having a set time when they could either telephone or drop in to speak to the pharmacist, and if the pharmacist was more readily available for them to speak to, rather than often being busy in the back of the shop.³

Community pharmacy has always hailed itself as the most accessible healthcare service, but time is not often your own, as you spend your day responding to demand activities, such as dispensing.

Time is a challenge for any healthcare professional, but the quality of time spent with a patient is what fuels improved outcomes, enhanced patient-pharmacist relationships and patient satisfaction. Time relates to hours, minutes and seconds; quality time relates to relationships and long-term survival.

We can improve time quality by focusing on:

• What do you want? 
• The patient experience 
• Work systems and processes
• Team knowledge and expertise
• Focused pharmacist-patient engagement 
• MOT measurement.

Some pharmacists may not need to find any more time for patients, but do need to use the time that is available more effectively. Remember that a few focused minutes with a patient can really make a difference to the quality of engagement and subsequent patient care and outcome.

Community pharmacists should appreciate the value of their time and consider how best to use that through a patient-centred approach. If you don’t do this, there is a danger that your patients may go elsewhere.