Obstetrics & Gynaecology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
Department of Sexual Health, King's College London Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine, London, UK.
BMJ Sex Reprod Health. 2021 Jan;47(1):55-60. doi: 10.1136/bmjsrh-2020-200648. Epub 2020 Jun 17.
Emergency contraception (EC) was approved in the UK as a pharmacy medicine for purchase without prescription in 2001. Twenty years later we conducted a study to characterise routine practice pharmacy provision of EC.
Mystery shopper study of 30 pharmacies in Edinburgh, Dundee and London participating in a clinical trial of contraception after EC.
Mystery shoppers, aged ≥16 years, followed a standard scenario requesting EC. After the pharmacy visit, they completed a proforma recording the duration of the consultation, where it took place, and whether advice was given to them about the importance of ongoing contraception after EC.
Fifty-five mystery shopper visits were conducted. The median reported duration of the consultation with the pharmacist was 6 (range 1-18) min. Consultations took place in a private room in 34 cases (62%) and at the shop counter in the remainder. In 27 cases (49%) women received advice about ongoing contraception. Eleven women (20%) left the pharmacy without EC due to lack of supplies or of a trained pharmacist. Most women were generally positive about the consultation.
While availability of EC from UK pharmacies has undoubtedly improved access, the necessity to have a consultation, however helpful, with a pharmacist introduces delays and around one in five of our mystery shoppers left without getting EC. Consultations in private are not always possible and little advice is given about ongoing contraception. It is time to make EC available without a pharmacy consultation.
紧急避孕（EC）于 2001 年在英国被批准作为一种无需处方即可在药房购买的药物。20 年后，我们进行了一项研究，以描述常规实践中药房提供 EC 的情况。
对爱丁堡、邓迪和伦敦的 30 家参与 EC 后避孕临床试验的药房进行神秘顾客研究。
年龄≥16 岁的神秘顾客按照标准方案要求 EC。在药店就诊后，他们填写了一份表格，记录咨询的持续时间、咨询地点以及是否就 EC 后继续避孕的重要性向他们提供了建议。
进行了 55 次神秘顾客访问。报告的与药剂师咨询的中位数持续时间为 6（范围 1-18）分钟。咨询在 34 例（62%）中在私人房间进行，其余在药店柜台进行。在 27 例（49%）中，妇女收到了关于继续避孕的建议。由于缺乏供应或没有经过培训的药剂师，11 名妇女（20%）离开药店而未获得 EC。大多数妇女对咨询总体上持积极态度。
虽然英国药房提供 EC 无疑改善了获取途径，但需要与药剂师进行咨询，无论多么有帮助，都会导致延迟，我们的神秘顾客中有五分之一左右没有获得 EC。在私人场所进行咨询并不总是可行的，而且关于继续避孕的建议很少。是时候无需药房咨询即可提供 EC 了。
