The importance of perception in person-centred care

A message from Claire Nevinson, Superintendent Pharmacist

The ability to ‘see the patient behind the prescription’ is often highlighted as one of the most important skills for any pharmacy professional in delivering truly person-centred care. Assessing a patient who presents in pharmacy requires us to ‘take in’ many sources of information (not just what is written on their prescription or what they are asking to purchase over the counter) to enable us to provide excellent care to them as an individual. Visual indicators, careful questioning and active listening allow us to uncover vital clues that enable us to support the patient holistically. 

As community pharmacy evolves from being task-centred to increasingly person-centred and services-led, the importance of using your perception to support your professional decision-making cannot be over-stated. This applies to all aspects of patient care, from responding to a patient’s symptoms over the counter to undertaking the supply of a medicine against a prescription. You will likely be aware of the recent media attention regarding a patient who described adverse effects after receiving a weight loss medicine after accessing an online prescribing service, with concerns about its online prescribing being expressed by the doctor who provided care in A&E. This edition of The Professional Standard includes a reminder of the observations, sensitive questioning and actions that are key when evaluating the clinical appropriateness of supplying such a medicine when the patient presents in-store for its collection.

As community pharmacy further evolves, many of our initiatives will necessarily focus on improving timely, safe patient access to the medicines and services that address key public healthcare needs. The success of NHS Pharmacy First and our Healthcare Reinvention initiative exemplify the importance of pharmacy and healthcare team members focusing upon the quality of the conversation with the patient or their representative. As external healthcare colleagues from other disciplines look to pharmacy professionals to deliver new models of patient care, we need to prioritise keen patient observations and robust professional judgement, ensuring that these are reflected in any treatment recommendations. If we are to achieve greater recognition for our clinical expertise in future, this must also be reflected in our high-quality record keeping and appropriate, timely information sharing upon which these external colleagues can rely.