Pharmaceutical care in community pharmacy: practice and research in the Netherlands

To describe the pharmaceutical care activities and research in community pharmacy in the Netherlands.

Pharmaceutical care is well advanced in Dutch pharmacy practice. This is largely due to the fact that clinical pharmacy was already an integrated part of community pharmacy practice by the end of the 1980s. Activities of the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP), some wholesale companies, and influential individuals in the Netherlands stimulated universities and the Royal Society for the Advancement of Pharmacy to advance the implementation of pharmaceutical care.

Not all pharmacies in the Netherlands provide pharmaceutical care at the same level, although medication surveillance (concurrent and prospective medication analysis) is part of everyday practice. Implementation of quality assurance systems in community pharmacy practice could be helpful in assuring high levels of care. Similar to those in other countries, Dutch pharmacists are torn between the wish to provide pharmaceutical care and economic considerations, although the financial status of most pharmacies is still (very) healthy. New entrants into the market, such as supermarket and pharmacy chains, seem to put little emphasis on care provision.

Pharmaceutical care has been implemented in many Dutch community pharmacies, but not everywhere to the same extent. Due to excellent automated medication surveillance; structured, high-quality medication counseling; and the fact that patients usually visit the same pharmacy, Dutch patients are well protected against many drug-related problems.