Operating a patient medicines helpline: a survey study exploring current practice in England using the RE-AIM evaluation framework

Table 4 Compliance with national standards for ‘satisfactory’ and ‘commendable’ levels of patient medicines helpline availability

National standards: Helpline availability		Percentage of NHS Trusts meeting each standard^a
‘Satisfactory’ Standards	The helpline is available five days per week.	96% (103/107)
	The helpline is accessible to patients/carers for minimum of four hours per day.	86% (92/107)
	Total compliance with availability ‘satisfactory’ standards.	86% (92/107)
‘Commendable’ Standards	The helpline is available for eight hours or more per day.	57% (61/107)
	The helpline is available for extended hours (i.e., evenings, weekends^b).	7% (7/107)
	Total compliance with availability ‘commendable’ standards.	5% (5/107)
Total compliance with both ‘satisfactory’ and ‘commendable’ availability standards		5% (5/107)

Note. Although 117 of 226 acute, mental health, specialist, and community NHS Trusts reported providing a patient medicines helpline, not all NHS Trusts answered every survey question
^aNumbers in parentheses show the actual numbers of NHS Trusts that met the standard, out of the total number of Trusts which answered the survey question pertaining to the standard
^bThree of 107 (3%) helpline services were reported as being available in the evenings; five of 107 (5%) helpline services were reported as being available at weekends (and operate seven days per week)

ISSN: 1472-6963