Abstract
BackgroundThe growing drive in South Africa to contain medicine cost has seen the emergence of postal pharmacy as an alternative mechanism to dispense chronic medicines. Patient satisfaction with pharmaceutical services has received limited attention in South Africa.AimThe aim of this study was to compare the level of patient satisfaction with pharmaceutical services between postal and community pharmacies.SettingThe research was conducted in the eThekwini Municipality, KwaZulu- Natal Province, South Africa in July and August 2014.MethodsA cross-sectional quantitative study using a randomised, telephonic questionnaire survey was conducted. Selected land telephone numbers were called until a sample size of 250 community pharmacy participants and 125 postal pharmacy participants was obtained.ResultsNine hundred and five telephone calls were made to obtain a sampling frame of 375 (41.44%) respondents, 250 for community and 125 for postal. After adjusting overall satisfaction by removing financial satisfaction, there was no significant difference between satisfaction in the two groups (p = 0.471). Postal pharmacy participants reported a higher level of financial satisfaction (p = 0.001). Community pharmacy participants reported a higher level of satisfaction with counselling or explanation (p = 0.028) and less medicine wastage (p < 0.001).ConclusionsPatient satisfaction with pharmaceutical services provided by either community or postal pharmacy was not significantly different. However, community pharmacies tend to address patients’ specific concerns more effectively. With the move to National Health Insurance, policymakers need to ensure that they provide high-quality pharmaceutical services and are more inclusive of community pharmacies to deliver quality care.
Highlights
Patient satisfaction has become an increasingly popular indicator of healthcare systems and services
A telephonic survey was adapted from the Satisfaction with Pharmacy Services Questionnaire (MacKeigan & Larson 1989) and a survey developed by Johnson et al (1997) as these questionnaires had been developed previously and validated in 4 separate studies
A survey was conducted on patients using community and postal pharmacies to access their chronic medication in an effort to establish their satisfaction with
Summary
Patient satisfaction has become an increasingly popular indicator of healthcare systems and services. The provision of pharmaceutical services has not been excluded from this evaluation, as they have become a central component of healthcare systems (Johnson et al 1999; Panvelkar, Saini & Armour 2009). The provision of pharmaceutical services has significant benefits to patients. It can result in improvements in communication, convenience and courtesy and can lead to increased use and improved healthcare outcomes (Kassim, Collins & Berkowitz 2012; Volume et al 2001). Patient satisfaction with pharmaceutical services has received limited attention in South Africa
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
