Medicine Information Help Lines: A Survey of Hospital Pharmacy-Based Services in the UK and Their Conformity with Guidelines

Abstract

The increasing use of the telephone to provide services directly to consumers is reflected in the growth of hospital-based medicine help lines in the UK. The telephone route is likely to become more important as patients' needs for information about their medicines increase. However, the rate of calls is low when compared with the number of patients issued prescriptions; further research is needed to investigate the reasons for this low response. There is currently reason for concern because most help lines lack not only professional training in telephone counseling, but also proper documentation, monitoring, and audit procedures.