Customers’ Perspectives of Service Quality in Community Pharmacies in Nigeria: A Cross-Sectional Survey

Abstract

Background: There is a growing need to understand the determinants of service quality in community pharmacy from the viewpoint of customers. Objectives: The study explored customer perspectives of pharmacy services using quality indicators and proposed a path for quality improvement. Methods: A questionnaire-based cross-sectional survey was conducted on 704 conveniently selected customers of community pharmacies between August and October, 2019. The exit survey examined customer expectations compared to actual services received. Questionnaire items were drawn from service quality domains of reliability, assurance, tangibles, equity, and responsiveness. Descriptive statistics was used to summarize demographic characteristics of respondents. To explore gaps between expected and perceived service quality, each domain was subjected to a pairwise t-test. Results: Customers’ response rate was 91.2% (n = 642) while their mean age was 52.1±3.55 years. Majority 60% (n = 259) were females, 62.5% (n = 401) had spent five years or less as customers of individual pharmacies. There was significant gap between expected and perceived service quality (t =13.55, p = 0.047). Domains of responsiveness (t = 162.67, p = 0.004) and reliability (t = 27.96, p = 0.023) contributed significantly to this gap with responsiveness being disproportionately impactful. Conclusion: There was significant gap between customer expectations of responsiveness and reliability of pharmacy teams and service fulfilment. This demands improved willingness to prioritize customer needs, serving them promptly, accurately, and as promised.

Application of Scoring and Decision Models to Evaluate Procurement Determinants in Community Pharmacy Practice in Nigeria

“…In Table 4, Garrett's scoring method clearly showed that the most important consideration was based on 'quality assurance' with Ranked 1 with the highest score of 63.36; in terms of perceived or known efficacy, safety, awareness of manufacturing standards, the integrity of packaging, storage, in line with the core value of pharmaceutical care. This is by far the most important consideration expected from community pharmacists because the emphasis is on the safety 13,14 and health of the patient consuming the pharmaceutical product 31 . Interestingly, 'Access to credit facility and 'Timeliness of delivery" which were ranked 2 nd and 3 rd respectively are indicative of the expectations of community pharmacists from the supply chain.…”

“…Therefore, this study explored using quantitative research techniques, the determinants informing buying decisions by community pharmacists in Southwest Nigeria. Community Pharmacists (CPs) are frontline healthcare personnel at the primary healthcare level 13,14 . They are expected to ensure safe, accessible, and affordable medicines.…”

An Evaluation of the Reflective Constructs Influencing Community Pharmacists’ Decision-to-Procure from Pharmaceutical Suppliers: A Structural Equation Modeling Study

“…[PCN, 2020: Ihekoronye et al, 2020. The study purposively selected Lagos, Ogun, and Oyo states respectively because they represent approximately 70% of the population of community pharmacies (1400) in the geographical zone [Ihekoronye et al, 2021;PCN, 2020]…”