Emergency contraception from community pharmacies: looking back and looking forward

Sharon Cameron and our colleagues present a study investigating the provision of emergency contraception (EC) from pharmacies, using a mystery shopper methodology undertaken in Edinburgh, Dundee and London, UK.1 We report that most women were able to undertake their consultation in a private room and that half received advice about ongoing contraception. However, one in five women left the pharmacy without EC because of the unavailability of a pharmacist or lack of supplies of EC. This is unacceptable and the pharmacy profession, contractor bodies and commissioners have a role in raising the professional standards of all pharmacies to those of the best. Universal commissioning of free EC and ongoing contraception should be available through pharmacies regardless of a woman’s age.

The authors remark that although availability of EC from pharmacies improves access, women in the UK still require a consultation with a pharmacist and the privacy of a sensitive…

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