Preferences for weight-management services included location in gyms and leisure centres or GP surgeries and

the involvement of a dietician, rather than a nurse or pharmacist. The general public also showed limited awareness of local or national NHS weight-management services or initiatives, with gyms and commercial slimming groups/clubs being identified more frequently as sources of advice on weight management than GPs and pharmacists. Despite the lack of a PCT-led initiative to promote pharmacies as venues for weight-management support, they were providing a variety of services in relation to weight management and clearly could do more. Some pharmacies have facilities for measuring weight, height and waist circumference, but larger numbers stock OTC weight-loss products and demand for these appeared to relate to deprivation. However, the frequency selleck inhibitor with which pharmacists claimed to provide advice to people presenting

prescriptions or question those purchasing OTC products was relatively low, suggesting a lack of pro-active engagement with the public trying to lose weight. The survey population for this study was the general public resident within Sefton PCT, rather than pharmacy users, unlike many previous studies exploring views of pharmacy services. Importantly the questionnaire included pharmacies DZNeP nmr as only one option for service provision to minimise bias in favour of pharmacies. Although the study sample was not truly representative of the Sefton population in terms of age or general health, it did include a substantial proportion who had tried to lose weight without discussing this with a health professional. This population would therefore be expected to include individuals not being targeted by NHS services, but who would have pertinent Urease views on local weight-management services. The method of data collection selected is likely to have been responsible for the unrepresentative sample, since it required respondents to be present in shopping centres during the day, thus resulting in bias against the

employed, males and the elderly. Face-to-face consumer surveys carried out in areas of high pedestrian flow are often considered the best method of collecting attitudinal information from consumers,[23] who are at present those most likely to use community pharmacies for weight management. Standard methods of measuring response rates could not be used because of the nature of the approach used. While the overall response rate could be regarded as low, a high proportion of those who actively considered taking part did so. High response rates and the inclusion of hard-to-reach individuals are some of the benefits of face-to-face interviews in comparison to other methods such as using telephone interviews (random-digit dial surveys).

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