OBJECTIVE： To provide reference for improving the pharmaceutical care ability of the retail pharmacies. METHODS： The questionnaires were designed to investigate 180 licensed pharmacists from 180 retail pharmacies. The survey data were analyzed statistically. RESULTS： A total of 180 questionnaires were sent out， and 150 effective questionnaires were collected with effective recovery rate of 83.33％. Among 150 investigated pharmacists， the junior college degree or lower accounted for 74.67％， and the professionals of pharmacy or related only accounted for 44.66％； the pharmacists who always and often provided medication guidance accounted for 72.67％ and 21.33％， respectively； the pharmacists who always and often developed prescription review accounted for 53.33％ and 27.33％， respectively； the pharmacists who always and often collected complaint suggestions accounted for 50.67％ and 35.33％， respectively； the pharmacists who always and often established medication history both only accounted for 1.33％； the pharmacists who always and often retrospected drug use of patients accounted for 18.67％ and 14.00％， respectively； the pharmacists who always and often conducted lectures on health education and drug use accounted for 4.00％ and 6.00％， respectively； the pharmacists who satisfied with the work accounted for 58.67％. CONCLUSIONS： Recently， the degree and professional ability of the licensed pharmacists are relatively low in retail pharmacies in Hefei. The pharmaceutical care contents of drugstores are unitary， the work satisfaction degree of the licensed pharmacists is unsatisfactory. Although they can provide the patients with drug use guidance basically， the projects such as carrying out prescription auditing and collecting complaint suggestions need to be further strengthened. Less work has been done in establishing medication history and retrospecting drug use. So， we need to take some measures to improve the pharmaceutical care ability of retail pharmacies effectively.