Community pharmacists' and general practitioners' perceptions of the role of the community pharmacist in 2012; a comparison of 1998, 2002 and 2012 data

Abstract

Background Primary healthcare is inherently in a state of flux due to increased demand for services countered by limited resources. Consequently primary healthcare professionals have had to adapt and redefine their roles. Recognition of the under-utilisation of the community pharmacists’ expertise has resulted in a role shift from shopkeeper/product seller to cognitive services provider/seller. Successful implementation of new roles such as medicines management by community pharmacists requires identification of perceived barriers so that strategies which enable enhanced inter-professional collaboration can be adopted for the ultimate result of positive benefits for the patient. Aims/Objectives To identify the perceptions of community pharmacists and general practitioners regarding the community pharmacist’s role; to examine any barriers to community pharmacist involvement in medicines management and to compare results of this study (2012) with those obtained in 1998 and 2002 respectively for any changes over time. Methods Two profession specific postal surveys modelled on the two previous studies were sent to 600 randomly selected community pharmacists and general practitioners respectively. Quantitative data was obtained using a Likert scale and analysed via SPSS v20. An analysis of trends was used for comparative analysis of the results obtained from the three studies. Analysis of qualitative data was undertaken via thematic analysis. Results The 2012 results revealed general acceptance of traditional community pharmacist roles but with general practitioners showing less acceptance for cognitive roles. Of more importance were the changes in agreement for these roles observed over the three studies. Whilst community pharmacists showed consistent agreement for involvement in medicines management barriers including a perceived lack of mandate, legitimacy, adequacy and effectiveness were identified by both groups; nonetheless more noteworthy were the changes in perception over time. Conclusion Comparative analysis of the three studies showed gradual but important shifts in perceptions, particularly by general practitioners with regard to acceptance of the provision of cognitive services by community pharmacists. Although the barriers to increased community pharmacist involvement in medicines management remained of note were the changes in attitude toward improved inter-professional collaboration over time, particularly from general practitioners.