Dataset Information

Clinical pharmacists in primary care general practices: evaluation of current workforce and their distribution.

ABSTRACT:

Background

General practices in primary care across England are increasingly employing clinical pharmacists to help tackle the workforce crisis and alleviate pressure. Clinical pharmacists can provide administrative and clinical duties, including non-medical prescribing, advice on polypharmacy and medicines optimisation. The aim of this study was to investigate the distribution of clinical pharmacists in general practice across England, and explore the relationship between the distribution and regional demography.

Methods

This study used publicly available government database from various sources pertaining to primary care general practice workforce and population demographics of England. The number and distribution of pharmacists working within general practices in England were analysed and compared across practices considering general practitioner (GP), nurse and patient population in the practices, patients age ≥ 65 years and over and the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) scores.

Results

Twenty two percentage (1469 of 6674) of practices in England were found to have access to a clinical pharmacist, equating to 1358 full-time equivalent (FTE) pharmacists and a mean pharmacist FTE of 10.07 (95% CI 8.40, 11.75, SD = 9.84) per Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG). A significant relationship between pharmacist FTE and the number of patients 65 years and older [r (132) = 0.75, P < 0.001)] was observed; however, the distribution was not related to population deprivation scores.

Conclusions

Approximately one in five general practices in England have access to a clinical pharmacist. Further research is needed to ensure wider and equitable distribution based on workforce needs and practice population demography.

SUBMITTER: Chopra E

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9733025 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Clinical pharmacists in primary care general practices: evaluation of current workforce and their distribution.

Chopra Elisha E Choudhary Tanvi T Hazen Ankie A Shrestha Sunil S Dehele Inderpal I Paudyal Vibhu V

Journal of pharmaceutical policy and practice 20221209 1

<h4>Background</h4>General practices in primary care across England are increasingly employing clinical pharmacists to help tackle the workforce crisis and alleviate pressure. Clinical pharmacists can provide administrative and clinical duties, including non-medical prescribing, advice on polypharmacy and medicines optimisation. The aim of this study was to investigate the distribution of clinical pharmacists in general practice across England, and explore the relationship between the distributi ...[more]

PMID: 36494761

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Dataset Information

Clinical pharmacists in primary care general practices: evaluation of current workforce and their distribution.

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Clinical pharmacists in primary care general practices: evaluation of current workforce and their distribution.

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