'It's all about patient safety': an ethnographic study of how pharmacy staff construct medicines safety in the context of polypharmacy.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

As polypharmacy increases, so does the complexity of prescribing, dispensing and consuming medicines. Medication safety is typically framed as the avoidance of harm, achievable through adherence to policies, guidelines and operational standards. Automation, robotics and technologies are positioned as key players in the elimination of medication error in the face of escalating demand, despite limited research illuminating how these innovations are taken up, used and adapted in practice. We explore how 'safety' is constructed and accomplished in community pharmacies in the context of polypharmacy.

Design and setting

In-depth ethnographic case study across four community pharmacies in England (December 2017-July 2019). Data collection entailed 140 hours participant ob

SUBMITTER: Fudge N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7925910 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature