News » Research » Dispensing patients are the most satisfied, new research finds
March 6th 2025
Dispensing practice patients are the most satisfied, new research shows.
Dispensing Practices, NHS Funding, and the Geography of Inequality published by the Health Equity Evidence Centre records an overall satisfaction score in dispensing practices of 79.2 per cent, versus non dispensing average of 71.6 per cent.
Dispensing practices were found to consistently perform better when patients were asked about their overall satisfaction, experience of contacting the surgery, continuity of care and confidence and trust.
The research, which looks at GP service financing, documents the increased costs of providing the dispensing service. It concludes: “While some prescribing and dispensing-related costs are directly reimbursed, others are absorbed as operational losses, limiting overall profitability.”
Cost pressures include dispensing practices’ lack of negotiating muscle, stock shrinkage, operational and staffing costs, and loss-making reimbursement.
The report, which was informed by the DDA, concludes that sustainable and equitable GP services will explicitly integrate measures of deprivation and healthcare inequity into funding calculations. This would ensure that resources are distributed in a way that enables practices to meet the needs of their communities, rather than merely sustaining existing service patterns.
