FORMULARY REVISION - ELICITING THE OPINIONS OF USERS

Background. Few peer-reviewed reports have been published that documen t the extent and type of use of published formularies in general pract ice. As publishers of the Practice Formulary of the Royal College of G eneral Practitioners, the Northern Ireland Faculty Board commissioned a large-scale survey to quantify these issues, for the purpose of impr oving the revision process. Aim. The aim of the survey was to investig ate the extent to which general practitioners in Northern Ireland use the Practice Formulary and the ways in which they use it, and to elici t their opinions on ways in which it could be improved. Results. A tot al of 371 completed questionnaires were received (response rate of 38% ), 49 respondents (13%) stating that they had not received the formula ry. Out of the 322 respondents who had received it, 84% used the formu lary occasionally, and 41% either had or were producing their own prac tice formulary (32% of these had used the RCGP formulary in its produc tion). Almost all respondents (90%) considered a formulary useful in g eneral practice. The presentation and layout was approved by 273 respo ndents (85%) and 259 (80%) agreed strongly with the drug selection. Th e formulary was used as a source of drugs information by 191 responden ts (59%) and as a teaching aid by 103 (32%). A total of 65 criticisms or suggestions for improving the next edition were received. Revision is now under way and 18 of the original respondents have volunteered t o be members of the revision committee. No judgement was made about th e non-respondents. Conclusion. The largest survey yet conducted of pub lished formulary use in one region elicited the extent of use, type of use, criticisms and suggestions for improvement These suggestions are being used as a guide to revision of the next edition.