[Community pharmacists are also first aid actors. Results of the survey on unscheduled care in pharmacies in the Grand Est region].

INTRODUCTION

According to the Public Healthcare Code, contributing to primary care is one of the pharmacist's key missions. Accessibility without appointment and the territorial network of pharmacies make the pharmacist an essential player in the management of unscheduled care, which remains an important gateway for users into the primary care system. This type of requests, daily in pharmacies, has not been yet the subject of a qualitative or quantitative evaluation. The Grand-Est Region, regrouping nearly 8% of French pharmacies, wanted to conduct a specific survey to quantify and assess the unscheduled care requests addressed to pharmacists on its territory.

METHODS

The survey by URPS Pharmacists and ARS Grand-Est was conducted by Tous Pour la Santé over a period of 12months from November 2020 to November 2021. Participation in the study was on a voluntary basis. The main objective of this study was to define the typology of unscheduled care requests addressed to the Region pharmacies and to characterize the responses provided.

RESULTS

One hundred and eighty-nine pharmacies (nearly 12% of Grand Est pharmacies, the participation rate could certainly have been higher if the study had not been conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic), representing 11,010 unscheduled care requests, took part in the survey. Despite the profession's massive desire to get involved in handling unscheduled care requests, the survey revealed a lack of specific training for pharmacists on this subject and an all-too-rare update from the AFGSU. User requests concern both daily healthcare needs and more specific chronic patients' needs. They evolve according to the profile of the applicant, the seasons, the days of the week and the type of pharmacy concerned. All ages are represented, including young adults. The average duration of care by the pharmacy team was 8minutes per request, even though in 20% of cases this did not lead to any delivery of product and in 11% of cases to no remuneration for the pharmacist.

CONCLUSION

This survey confirmed the role of the pharmacist in responding to unscheduled care requests as a first-line actor and referral agent in the health system. The implementation of shared multiprofessional protocols, including first and foremost general practionners, and the recognition of the contribution of pharmacy teams would allow to define a framework to optimize the patient's journey through the healthcare system.