Views of British community pharmacists on direct patient reporting of adverse drug reactions (ADRs)

Purpose: To survey British community pharmacists' views and practices concerning direct patient reporting of ADRs. Methods: Cross-sectional postal survey of community pharmacists in Britain Results: Of 1096 questionnaires distributed, 297 usable responses were obtained, (27.1%). Respondents' estimates of the frequency of patients reporting a suspected ADR to them had a median of 1.0 per month. Almost a fifth of respondents (19.6%) do not specifically ask patients about ADRs, and 38.7% do not encourage patients to report. Only 18.5% displayed a poster promoting the YC Scheme in their pharmacy, but 57.9% claimed to have patient YCs available. A quarter (24.9%) of respondents considered that ADR reporting should be restricted to health professionals and 14.4% considered that patients were not at all capable of identifying ADRs. Conclusions: The low response rate and overall results suggest that British community pharmacists may lack interest in and do not promote direct patient reporting. Increased awareness of the benefits and mechanisms of patient reporting may be required to ensure that pharmacists can provide the necessary support to facilitate patient reporting.