Chlamydia testing in community pharmacies: evaluation of a feasibility pilot in south east London

Abstract

Background and objective: Chlamydia trachomatis infection is a common sexually transmitted infection with serious sequelae. Excellent access to testing, treatment and contact tracing are an essential part of strategies to control it. With traditional sexual health services overstretched, community pharmacies are well placed to provide this service. They have the potential to improve access by offering chlamydia testing and treatment from high street venues with long opening hours. This study evaluated the feasibility and acceptability to users and pharmacists of this service in independent community pharmacies. Method: A chlamydia testing and treatment service was offered in three community pharmacies in two inner London boroughs for a 3-month pilot. Data on the feasibility and acceptability of the new service were collected via a survey of client experience, indepth semistructured interviews with clients and pharmacists, and structured evaluation reports completed by professional patients paid to visit the pharmacies. Results: 83 tests were taken with eight (9.5%) of these positive for C trachomatis. Of those tested, 94% (n = 73) were women and 71% (n = 56) were from ethnic minorities. 80 clients completed the questionnaires and 24 clients were interviewed. Most clients heard about the service from the pharmacist when requesting emergency contraception and 16% (n = 13) would not otherwise have been tested. Clients valued the speed and convenience of the service and the friendly, non-judgmental approach of the pharmacist. Confidentiality when asking for the service at the counter was suboptimal, and the pharmacist trained to deliver the service was not always available to provide it. Conclusions: Chlamydia testing and treatment in community pharmacies is feasible and acceptable to users. The service increases access among young women at high risk of sexually transmitted infection but not among young men.

The development of a sleep disorder screening program in Australian community pharmacies

“…Participation was mainly initiated by pharmacists and it took 5.0 min (0. [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20] to carry out the screening protocol which involved explaining the study, obtaining consent and clarifying queries.…”

“…Pharmacies are often the first point of entry into the healthcare system for individuals experiencing symptoms of sleep disorders and pharmacists are well placed to observe medication profiles that may be associated with sleep disorders. In the past, there have been a range of successfully implemented screening systems for cardiovascular risk, diabetes, Chlamydia trachomatis but in contrast, there has only been one study examining screening for sleep disorders [14][15][16][17].…”

The organisation and delivery of health improvement in general practice and primary care: a scoping study

“…177,360,364 Additional factors that may be important for effective organisation and delivery of chlamydia screening in general practice were identified in a qualitative study by McNulty et al 176 Chlamydia screening has been found to be feasible in the community pharmacy setting, and the provision of emergency contraception by pharmacies provides an opportunity to provide chlamydia screening kits simultaneously. 365,366 However, there is a lack of evidence comparing the effectiveness of chlamydia screening in community pharmacy with general practice. Nevertheless, the available evidence suggests pharmacists have experienced some challenges similar to those of general practices, such as lack of privacy and the difficulty of raising the subject of chlamydia in consultations.…”

Could community pharmacies help to improve youth health? Service availability and views of pharmacy personnel in New Zealand

“…Another important, practical barrier for youth is cost, and healthcare access will be inequitable unless services are free (World Health Organisation 2009). Community pharmacies cannot meet this criterion without funding to subsidise costs to young patients and customers, but there is evidence demonstrating that this may be both feasible and cost effective; for example for services such as chlamydia screening (Baraitser et al 2007). Condoms and ECP are already provided to young people for free in other countries and this is currently being piloted in NZ (Duff 2013).…”

“…International evaluations have indicated success in terms of customer satisfaction and positive health outcomes (Anderson and Blenkinsopp 2006). This has led to the development of other pharmacy-delivered sexual health services including chlamydia screening (Baraitser et al 2007), and the Condom Card ('C-Card) scheme whereby young people are supplied condoms discretely and free of charge via pharmacies (Duff 2013).…”