Pharmacist prescribing in Northern Ireland a quan

Authors: Laura McCann Sharon Haughey Carole Parsons Fran Lloyd Grainne Crealey Gerard J Gormley Carmel M Hughes

Publish Date: 2011/08/10

Volume: 33, Issue: 5, Pages: 824-

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Abstract

Objective Health care in the United Kingdom UK has undergone a significant change in terms of the range of professionals who are permitted to prescribe medications This study aimed to capture information on pharmacist prescribing in Northern Ireland NI Setting Primary and secondary care in NI Method A structured selfadministered questionnaire was developed and sent to all pharmacists who were identified as qualified prescribers in NI n = 105 although only 100 respondents provided details of their prescribing status ie currently prescribing previous prescribers and those who had never prescribed Three versions of the questionnaire were developed to accommodate each category of prescriber The questionnaire which sought information on clinical areas/practice settings of prescribers their working arrangements and barriers to prescribing was distributed by mail on two occasions to maximise response rates Descriptive analyses were used as appropriate together with Chisquared tests or Fisher exact tests to evaluate associations between responses and demographic information with significance set a priori at P  005 Qualitative data from the free text response section were analysed for recurring themes using content analysis Results A response rate of 760 n = 76 was achieved There were more female respondents 737 than males 263 Nearly 50 of respondents were currently prescribing n = 36 474 461 n = 35 had never prescribed and 66 n = 5 had prescribed in the past There were perceived benefits in terms of patient care and perception of the pharmacist within the health care team A number of barriers to pharmacist prescribing were reported Independent prescribing was viewed as the way forward although pharmacists expressed reluctance to prescribe without a diagnosis or beyond the team setting Conclusion Pharmacy prescribing has yet to fully embedded in routine practice This study has shown that the number of qualified prescribers in NI is relatively small and not all have taken up prescribing responsibilities Well recognised barriers were reported as reasons as to why qualified prescribers were unable to use their prescribing skills Further research should provide an indepth understanding of pharmacy prescribing in NI and examine patients’ experiences of this form of practice

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