Mandatory uniforms for pharmacists, additional services like pathology tests and competent personnel manning the retail counters are some of the basic requirements the customers expect in a chemist outlets, reveals a survey conducted by the Delhi Public Trust.

The study which was carried out in Bangalore and New Delhi has brought out the customer expectations and provided a direction that the pharmacy outlets should put in place to ensure that the key person in the shop must have a proper identification. The pharmacist should wear a distinct coloured coat with a name badge. This will allow the consumers to recognize the person of authority in the pharmacy outlet at once.

Additional facilities like basic pathology services, blood pressure checking, temperature and first aid facilities including injections should be made available by a trained staff at the pharmacy outlets. This service should also extended for house visits.

Consumers in the rural areas expressed that chemist outlets should offer emergency care centres with a place for rest till the patient could be transferred to a medical centre.

There are divergent views expressed about the role of pharmacists. But most of these are perceptions by individuals not involved in community pharmacy or retail outlets. However, the key point is that chemists work like traders and do not provide any professional service and there is no image of high esteem in comparison to other members of the healthcare fraternity. The chemist is the indispensable person in today’s healthcare business and therefore he needs the identity and add on a gamut of services, Dr DBA Narayana, managing trustee, Delhi Pharmacy Trust told Pharmabiz.

The Trust will now use this data to focus its pharmacy trade activities for the future. The survey involved a qualitative research analysis among medicine buyers in eight different profiles. A qualitative method known as the ‘Target Group Discussion’ was adopted for the market research. The respondents included housewives, working women, youth between 20-30 years, doctors working at hospitals, Nurses, Class IV employees, senior citizens and customers from the rural areas, he added.

Some of the highlights of the survey revealed that pharmacists did not hesitate to dispense the drugs without prescription for simple health disorders. For treatment of patients with multiple complications, chemists asked them to consult a doctor. Purchase of drugs using old prescription was not denied. Most of the respondents felt that chemists remembered the names of drugs which were purchased regularly.

Chemists are consulted for drug purchase when a doctor is not available because of or due to distance to access. Customers in the low income strata consulted chemists for drugs to save the doctor’s fee.

Consumers could easily recognize a chemist shop. There was a high level of awareness on the trade licenses and green cross symbol. The reliability of the chemist was based on word-of-mouth and number of customers visiting the shop. In many cases, doctors also guided patients in purchasing drugs from particular chemists which automatically created a credible identity. For some, the nearest chemist was the preferred choice of drug purchase, according to survey.

Perceived characteristics of a good chemist was taking prior consent before giving a substitute drug, quick dispensing of drugs and cask memos. Valuable advice and medicines recommended by the chemists have been proven to be effective on most occasions.

The branding of pharmacy outlets was based on cleanliness, proper organization and storage display of medicines. A qualified chemist was one who collects the prescription or the person manning the cash counter who is perceived to have the maximum knowledge about the drugs. The nature of information shared by the chemists varied from doses of medicines prescribed, consumption mode, purpose of the drug and substitute of the medicines.

There were certain aspects of chemists disliked by the customers. These included faulty billing, not attending to the customer after taking the doctor’s prescription, dispensing drugs without checking its strength, colluding with doctors to push a particular a brand.