Background and importance The COVID-19 epidemic led to a reduction in travel for fragile patients to the hospital’s pharmacy in our teaching hospital. We applied the ministerial procedure which ensured the continuity of patient treatment by delivering drugs to the patient‘s pharmacy of their choice.¹

Aim and objectives This was enabled in Reims by means of an email address used by pharmacies to send prescriptions to the hospital pharmacy.² Based on a questionnaire of satisfaction intended for patients and pharmacies, we evaluated this system, set up from 23 March to 10 July 2020.

Material and methods We conducted a prospective satisfaction survey of patients and pharmacies who participated in the hospital–city ministerial procedure. Data collection was carried out by telephone for patients and by an anonymised questionnaire for pharmacies. The criteria evaluated were the quality of the service, speed of delivery, if treatment was interrupted, difficulties in supplying the treatment, need for advice and overall satisfaction (score out of 10).

Results 134 patients and 52 pharmacies participated in the study. 186 dispensations were performed (27% of activity). 95% of patients and 96% of pharmacies judged the quality of the information as satisfactory. The speed of the procedure was satisfactory (96% for pharmacies and 90% for patients). 92% of pharmacies did not have any supply problems and there were four treatment breaks during the study period. The average overall satisfaction rating for pharmacies was 8.5/10. 89% of pharmacies were in favour of continuing the procedure and 90% considered that it was involved in strengthening the city–hospital link.

Conclusion and relevance The results tended towards a high overall satisfaction rate. However, the occurrence of treatment breaks and lower patient satisfaction with the speed of treatment delivery (90%) are areas for improvement. While making the procedure more flexible and improving the delivery of treatment, patients and pharmacies have expressed a desire to continue the procedure, which is deemed more practical and beneficial for strengthening the city–hospital link.

References and/or acknowledgements

1. Arrêté du 23 mars 2020: organisation du système de santé face à l’épidémie de covid-19

2. covid-19_fiche-retrocession-ambulatoire-pharmacie.pdf

Conflict of interest No conflict of interest