PPI for PBP research - Exploring the role, responsibilities and impact of pharmacists working in primary care (GP surgeries)

Project Description

Both local and national initiatives seek to recruit more pharmacists to work in GP practices. Following a successful pilot, NHS England have committed to recruit up to 2000 pharmacists by 2020 to work clinically in general practice settings; this is part of the General Practice Forward View. In addition to this NHS drive, locally, many GP surgeries are themselves employing pharmacists. Numbers of pharmacists working in GP practices is increasing. A report in March 2019 highlighted that the only way forward in general practice was a new model that draws on the skills of other health professionals (e.g. pharmacists) and suggests there is a need to recruit at least 3000 more pharmacists into general practice.

The intention is that pharmacists should be working to improve the benefit that people get from the medicines prescribed by GPs. Pharmacists are experts in helping patients get the most out of today’s complicated medicines. Practice-based pharmacists will be working to help patients with their prescribed medicines. They may be seeing and treating patients directly. For example: undertaking regular medicines reviews; running clinics for patients with a long-term illness who may be taking many different medicines. As the number of patients with a long-term illness increases, this will help give better access.

Some research has shown that such support from pharmacists was acceptable to patients and made a difference to their care. However, there are some key recommendations from this research that still need addressing. Before a further roll out of investment, the impact of pharmacists on the work of GP surgeries needs assessing, this includes understanding the impact on general practice such as capacity and workload; impact on the pharmacists in terms of job satisfaction, autonomy and relationships and impact on patients.

The aim of this developing grant application is twofold (and is in the early stages); we would like to look at the following:
i) Role questions
• What roles are practice based pharmacists delivering on the “ground”? We are interested in what is actually happening.
• Are there differences in the role played by the pharmacist in different practices and why?
• What are the pharmacists expected to do; is there a difference from the doctor’s surgery and pharmacists’ perspectives?
• What are the skills needed to undertake these roles?

ii) Impact questions
• Has recruiting pharmacists depleted resources from other areas, such as community pharmacy?
• What has been the impact on practice in terms of doctors’ workload/capacity?
• What has been the impact to patients? What is patient need from primary care and practice based pharmacists?

It is likely at this stage that we will use the main grant to:
• develop and use a national survey.
• carry out targeted in-depth interviews and develop case studies with practice staff including pharmacists.
• interrogate the GP surgery computer system (with ethical approval) to see what tasks and workload pharmacists are doing. This data is available on practice-based electronic systems such as SYSTMONE.