Evaluation of GP Pharmacists’ role by key stakeholders in England & Australia

There is a consensus on the shortage of General Practitioners (GPs) and Nurses in general practice framework, creating an opportunity for clinical pharmacists to step-in as General Practice Pharmacist (GPP). In this qualitative comparative study expectations and perceptions about GPPs’ role in England & Australia has been evaluated. The study is based on the interviews with key stakeholders, from England and Australia, including GPs, Nurses, GPPs, Organisational lead and Academia. The participants were involved in a semi-structured, audio-recorded interviews, which were later transcribed verbatim, coded and underwent a thematic analysis to extract the general themes. These were raised by participants, based on their views and experiences about GPPs’ role. From the transcribed data, main extracted themes were initial expectations & reservations by key stakeholders, barriers and facilitators, working collaboration, GPPs’ skillset, views on key performance indicators (KPIs), patients’ feedback, and the stakeholders’ views on the future of GPP in England & Australia. The participants from both England & Australia did acknowledge the growing role of GPP. Few concerns were raised by some participants about aspects like role description, training pathways, prescribing protocols and funding. Despite these concerns, all participants strongly believed that by taking steps to overcome main barriers like funding in Australia and training pathway in England, GPP could be an ideal professional to bridge the gaps in general practice framework. Based on the comparative data, recommendations were made on funding structure, role description, prescribing qualification, training pathway and key performance indicators for role of GPP in general practice framework. These recommendations can be used as guidance for both England and Australia to learn from each other’s and implement relative policies in their countries.