To meet patient needs more effectively, healthcare systems must adopt a cost-effective, patient-centred ap-proach that prioritizes primary care over secondary care. Community pharmacies play a key role in this shift, expanding beyond medication dispensing to offer a broader range of healthcare services. This study compares community pharmacy services in Poland and Portugal to assess whether Poland is behind, aligned with, or different in its approach. A narrative review examined community pharmacy services in Poland and Portugal, using Portugal as a reference due to its well-established pharmaceutical care system. The literature was searched in databases such as PubMed, Embase, and Google Scholar from January to March 2025 along with legal regulations and government public announcements, to provide a thorough understanding of the subject. While Portuguese pharmacists have long been involved in immunization, diagnosis, and prevention, these services are still in the early stages of development in Poland. Polish pharmacists, in turn, have broader author-ity to issue prescriptions in health or life-threatening situations. In Poland, expanding pharmacists' services, particularly in diagnosis and prevention could improve healthcare accessibility and support physicians in man-aging patient care. In Portugal, on the other hand, granting pharmacists broader prescribing authority could enhance patient access to essential medicines in emergency situations and ease the burden on the health care system, enabling it to respond more quickly to patients' needs.
Cynar et al. (Tue,) studied this question.