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. 2024 Jul 31;7(2):106-119.
doi: 10.4314/rjmhs.v7i2.1. eCollection 2024 Jul.

Barriers to Community Pharmacists' Prescribing Role in Limpopo Province, South Africa: A Qualitative Study

Noko Brilliant Moloto  1 , Tiisetso Aubrey Chuene  2 , Kgaugelo Daphney Makgopa  1 , Koketso Malekhwekhwe Mogano  1 , Mmakgwedi Unika Rakgoale  1 , Manase Sarender Rekhotho  1
Affiliations

Barriers to Community Pharmacists' Prescribing Role in Limpopo Province, South Africa: A Qualitative Study

Noko Brilliant Moloto et al. Rwanda J Med Health Sci. .

Abstract

Background: The healthcare system had rapidly advanced with greater focus on improving the quality of healthcare and safety of patients. Parallel with the transforming healthcare systems, new policies have emerged to allow pharmacists to prescribe. Little is known about the barriers to community pharmacists' prescribing role in Limpopo province.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the barriers to community pharmacists' prescribing role in Limpopo province and give recommendations to enhance pharmacists' prescribing role at community pharmacies.

Methodology: This was a qualitative study in which community pharmacists in Polokwane were interviewed. Due to data saturation, 14 pharmacists participated. Data collection was through semi-structured face-to-face interviews. The interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using Tesch's open coding method.

Results: Most participants reported their readiness to prescribe and viewed it as a positive initiative. Results revealed barriers associated with the prescribing role such as lack of knowledge and awareness of the supplementary program, lack of dedicated time for prescribing, lack of recognition from employer, lack of support from medical doctors, and limited scope of practice.

Conclusion: Pharmacists' prescribing role is a great initiative that will strengthen the healthcare system however the identified barriers need to be addressed to ensure that pharmacists offer safe and effective patient-centred healthcare. A coordinated effort is therefore necessary for the formulation of clear policy frameworks, including more training facilities, increasing stakeholder awareness to support pharmacist prescribing role, and identifying financial, infrastructure, and other resource demands to support the smooth integration of pharmacist prescribing.

Keywords: Barriers; Community pharmacists; Pharmacist prescribing; Primary Care Drug Therapy; Views; prescribing role.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicting interest.

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