Research publications

 

 

Providing information about medicines online (Jan-March 2010)
This research was undertaken by Opinion Leader (off-line engagement) and Delib (on-line engagement) to confirm the desirability of providing regulatory information about medicines (patient information leaflets (PILs) and Summaries of Product Characteristics (SPCs)) online to healthcare professionals, patients and members of the public.

It was also an opportunity to explore and gain an understanding of:

• where patients and healthcare professionals expect to find this information
• how they might want to search the data
• the functionality required by the software
• the impact of making this information available.

Download Opinion Leader report (681Kb)

Download Delib report (120Kb)

Update - August 2010
This research indicated that there is a broad consensus among patients/ members of the public on the benefits of providing product information online. This is mainly driven by the need for a credible, centralised and easy-to-use database.

We have explored both the options of publishing product information on the MHRA website, as well as working with third party health information providers to host the data on their sites. However, due to the current financial climate, we have assessed all our IT projects and prioritised accordingly. While this project is still of great importance to the Agency, in the current economic climate, we have no immediate plans to proceed with this development. We will, of course, be continually reviewing the situation and hope to be able to implement this project in the future.

Risks and benefits of medicines and medical devices - perceptions, communication & regulation (2009)
This 2009 survey follows on from the 2006 Ipsos MORI baseline survey commissioned by the MHRA to discern and quantify the perceptions of the general public about the risks and benefits associated with medicines and medical devices, and of how well they are regulated in the UK.  The 2009 survey is intended as the first measurement to indicate the direction of travel in public opinion in these areas. 

The core objectives of the survey were to explore:

1. Perceptions of risks, benefits and safety associated with medicines and medical devices
2. Experiences of medicines and medical devices
3. Knowledge of and attitudes towards regulation of medicines and medical devices
4. Attitudes towards the communication of information about medicines and medical devices.

Download the full report (588Kb)

Communications with pharmacists (2008)
This research, undertaken by Ipsos MORI during 2008, set out to discover;

• What pharmacists believe they currently get from MHRA by way of communications and what they think of then
• What information they want from MHRA
• How they want this information, taking account of all available channels and sources of communication
• How often, if at all, they want these various forms of communication.

Download the full report (465Kb)

Risks and benefits of medicines and medical devices - perceptions, communication & regulation (2006)
This research by Ipsos MORI , published on 12 December 2006, shows the perceptions of the general public and of healthcare professionals about the risks and benefits associated with medicines and medical devices, and of how well they are regulated and communicated in the UK.

It consists of:

a press release

an overview (384Kb)

 

• perceptions of the general public:
  qualitative (focus group) research findings (256Kb)

quantitative (survey) research findings (1661Kb) (revised 21 December 2006)

• perceptions of healthcare professionals:
  qualitative (focus group) research findings (796Kb)

quantitative (survey) research findings (1687Kb)

Each of the four documents containing research findings has a summary at the beginning.