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. 2022 Dec 9;15(1):101.
doi: 10.1186/s40545-022-00483-3.

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

Elisha Chopra  1 , Tanvi Choudhary  1 , Ankie Hazen  2 , Sunil Shrestha  3 , Inderpal Dehele  1 , Vibhu Paudyal  4
Affiliations

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

Elisha Chopra et al. J Pharm Policy Pract. .

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.

Keywords: Clinical pharmacist; General practice; Physician offices; Primary care; Workforce.

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Conflict of interest statement

No authors have any conflicts of interests to declare.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Mean pharmacist headcount and full time equivalent (FTE) adjusted for population within English regions
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Mean pharmacist full time equivalent (FTE) adjusted for population by deprivation quintiles
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Pharmacist FTE by GP FTE of all English CCGs r(132) = 0.79, P < 0.001
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Pharmacist FTE by Nurse FTE of all English CCGs, r(132) = 0.78, P < 0.001
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Pharmacist FTE by total patients over the age of 65 of all English CCGs, r(132) = 0.75, P < 0.001
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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