GPs’ perceptions of pharmacists working in general practices: A mixed methods survey study

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Date
2023
Authors
Hurley, Eoin
Foley, Tony
Walsh, Elaine
Byrne, Stephen
Dalton, Kieran
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Publisher
Taylor and Francis Ltd.
Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1080/13814788.2023.2273841
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Abstract
Background: Pharmacists are increasingly incorporated into general practice teams globally and have been shown to positively impact patient outcomes. However, little research to date has focused on determining general practitioners’ (GPs’) perceptions of practice-based pharmacist roles in countries yet to establish such roles. Objectives: To explore GPs’ perceptions towards integrating pharmacists into practices and determine if any significant associations were present between GPs’ perceptions and their demographic characteristics. Methods: In June 2022, a survey was disseminated to GPs in Ireland via post (n = 500 in Munster region), Twitter, WhatsApp, and an online GP support and education network. Quantitative data were captured through multiple option and Likert-scale questions and analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Qualitative data were captured via free-text boxes, with the open comments analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Results: A total of 152 valid responses were received (24.6% response to postal survey). Overall, GPs welcomed the role of practice-based pharmacists and perceived that they would increase patient safety. Most agreed with practice pharmacists providing medicine information (98%) vs. 23% agreeing with practice pharmacists prescribing independently. Most agreed they would partake in a practice pharmacist pilot (78.6%). The free-text comments described current pressures in general practice, existing relationships with pharmacists, funding and governance strategies, potential roles for pharmacists in general practice, and anticipated outcomes of such roles. Conclusion: This study provides a deeper understanding of GPs’ perceptions of integrating pharmacists into practices and the demographic characteristics associated with different perceptions, which may help better inform future initiatives to integrate pharmacists into practices. © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
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Keywords
General practice , General practitioners , Pharmacist , Primary health care , Survey
Citation
Hurley, E., Foley, T., Walsh, E., Byrne, S. and Dalton, K. (2023) 'GPs’ perceptions of pharmacists working in general practices: a mixed methods survey study', European Journal of General Practice, 29(1), 2273841 (11pp). https://doi.org/10.1080/13814788.2023.2273841
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https://hdl.handle.net/10468/16759
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Pharmacy - Journal Articles
Copyright
© 2023, the Authors. Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/),which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The terms on which this articlehas been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.