West Sussex County Council is seeking residents’ views on pharmacy services across the county, to help understand how local residents and communities use these services.

A public survey is now open until Monday 3 March (midnight) inviting residents to give their views on pharmacy services in West Sussex. These include services from high street pharmacies, online or mail order pharmacies, dispensing GPs*, and suppliers of items such as stoma bags, incontinence products, wound dressings, compression garments, and other medical aids.  This feedback will help to inform the draft West Sussex Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment, which the county council will seek further public comment on later this year.

A Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment is a statement of needs for pharmaceutical provision within a local area and takes place every three years. The West Sussex Health and Wellbeing Board is required to undertake and produce the report, which is used by NHS England, local authorities, and local NHS systems, to plan and deliver pharmaceutical services across the county. The Health and Wellbeing Board brings together representatives from the county council, the NHS, district and borough councils, and the voluntary and community sector, who work in partnership to improve the health and wellbeing of the local population and reduce inequalities.

Currently in West Sussex there are 143 community pharmacies, 12 dispensing GPs, five dispensing appliance contractors, and three distance-selling (internet or mail order) pharmacies.

Councillor Bob Lanzer, West Sussex County Council's Cabinet Member for Public Health and Wellbeing, said: “The pharmaceutical needs assessment is an important tool to identify needs for pharmaceutical services in West Sussex. I really encourage our residents to take this short survey, which will inform the development of our draft assessment.

“The views from our residents are greatly valued.”

To take part in the survey please visit www.westsussex.gov.uk/pharmacy

For anyone who doesn’t have internet access, the Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment survey can be viewed online for free at any West Sussex library.

*Dispensing doctors are GPs who can dispense medicines for patients who live remotely from a community pharmacy.