Risks and concerns about supplementary prescribing: survey of primary and secondary care pharmacists

OBJECTIVE (OF THE STUDY): To provide data on the views of chief pharmacists (CPs) and primary care trust pharmacists (PCTPs) on the risks and concerns surrounding supplementary prescribing.

Secondary and primary care within England.

Postal questionnaire surveys of chief pharmacists and primary care trust pharmacists.

Significance of the association between the extracted factors.

The response rate was 68% for both the primary care (183/271) and secondary care surveys (97/143). The survey tool was subjected to factor analysis and reliability testing. For both sectors, the three factors that were extracted described concerns over the training model for supplementary prescribing, concerns about the professional competency/responsibility of the supplementary prescribers once trained, and positivity about the implementation of supplementary prescribing. For both sectors, as trusts have more experience of supplementary prescribing by nurses, the respondents had less concerns about the supplementary prescribing training model. For secondary care, as the total number of pharmacists employed within the trust increases, the respondents had less concerns over the limitations of the supplementary prescribing training model.

Although both sectors have concerns over the training model for supplementary prescribing and also professional competence and responsibility once trainees qualify, there is overall a positive attitude towards supplementary prescribing and there is a belief that pharmacists wish to take this role on.