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An online survey conducted by Community Pharmacy Wales (CPW) has revealed that just under half (44%, n= 537) of Welsh adults said that dispensing services are what they value most from their community pharmacy.
Results of the YouGov survey released to the media on 13 April 2026 also show that respondents reported that advice from pharmacists (17%; 207), the Common Ailments Scheme (10%; 122) and pharmacist independent prescribing (3%; 37) were the most important services to have at community pharmacies.
CPW surveyed 1,220 members of the Welsh public between 5–12 January 2026.
Across voting intention groups, “dispensing ranked as the most important service among supporters of all major parties”, CPW noted.
The survey results also found that almost half of respondents (43%; 525) said they had visited a community pharmacy in the last month, while just over half of respondents (52%; 633) had used a community pharmacy dispensing service and nearly half of respondents (42%; 512) had purchased over-the-counter medicines in the last 12 months.
Just over one-quarter (26%; 317) of respondents noted that they had accessed advice from a pharmacist in that same timeframe, while one in ten (10%) had used the Common Ailments Service and a small number (4%) had used the pharmacist independent prescribing service.
A spokesperson for CPW said: “This poll shows clearly that dispensing medicines remains the service that matters most to the public. It is not only the most important service by a significant margin, but also one of the most widely used and recognised.
“While community pharmacies provide a growing range of clinical services, these findings reflect the reality that the safe and reliable supply of medicines continues to be the foundation of what patients value and depend on.”
Commenting on the survey, Geraldine McCaffrey, director for Wales at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, said: “The findings are broadly in line with what would be expected, given the long-established and traditional role of community pharmacy and the undoubted public value of the safe supply of medicines.
“Alongside the crucial dispensing role, it is encouraging that the survey results show that the broad spectrum of services available through community pharmacy, including the growing clinical contribution of pharmacists, is also recognised and valued by the public.”
