Yes / Background: The NHS in the UK supports pharmacists’ deployment into general practices. This
article reports on the implementation and impact of the Primary Care Pharmacy Programme
(PCPP). The programme is a care delivery model that was undertaken at scale across a city in which
community pharmacists (CPs) were matched with general practices and performed clinical duties
for one half-day per week.
Aim: To investigate (a) challenges of integration of CPs in general practices, and (b) the perceived
impact on care delivery and community pharmacy practice.
Design & setting: This mixed-methods study was conducted with CPs, community pharmacy
employers (CPEs), scheme commissioners (SCs), and patients in Sheffield.
Method: Semi-structured interviews (n = 22) took place with CPs (n = 12), CPEs (n = 2), SCs (n = 3),
and patients (n = 5). A cross-sectional survey of PCPP pharmacists (n = 47, 66%) was also used. A
descriptive analysis of patient feedback forms was undertaken and a database of pharmacist
activities was created.
Results: Eighty-six of 88 practices deployed a pharmacist. Although community pharmacy
contracting and backfill arrangements were sometimes complicated, timely deployment was
achieved. Development of closer relationships appeared to facilitate extension of initially agreed
roles, including transition from ‘backroom’ to patient-facing clinical work. CPs gained
understanding of GP processes and patients’ primary care pathway, allowing them to follow up
work at the community pharmacy in a more timely way, positively impacting on patients’ and
healthcare professionals’ perceived delivery of care.
Conclusion: The PCPP scheme was the first of its kind to achieve almost universal uptake by GPs
throughout a large city. The study findings reveal the potential for CP–GP joint-working in
increasing perceived positive care delivery and reducing fragmented care, and can inform future
implementation at scale and at practice level.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BRADFORD/oai:bradscholars.brad.ac.uk:10454/16612 |
| Date | 17 October 2018 |
| Creators | Marques, Iuri, Gray, N.J., Tsoneva, J., Magirr, P., Blenkinsopp, Alison |
| Source Sets | Bradford Scholars |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Article, Published version |
| Rights | © 2018 The Authors. Published by the Royal College of General Practitioners. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/)., CC-BY-NC |
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