The role of community pharmacists in immunisation: a national cross-sectional study

Background Austrian pharmacists are not authorised to administer immunisations, and evidence about their willingness to immunise is lacking. Aim The aim of this study is to investigate Austrian community pharmacists' willingness to administer immunisations in the future. Method This study is designed as a cross-sectional online survey based on the theoretical domains framework (TDF). The validated and piloted questionnaire obtained ethical approval by Robert Gordon University. Outcome measures included pharmacists' willingness to immunise, service requirements, barriers and education needs. Results The questionnaire was sent out to 3086 community pharmacists of which 380 responses were included in the final analysis (12.3%). Willingness to administer immunisations after appropriate training and legislative regulation was stated by 82.6% (n = 314) of participants. It was demonstrated that pharmacists willing to immunise were significantly younger than their counterpart (38 [IQR 31-49] years vs. 45 [IQR 37.5-54] years; OR 1.06; 1.03-1.09, 95% CI; p < 0.001). 'Legal liability' was considered the most critical barrier to service implementation, 'seeing blood' and 'close patient contact' as least critical. Pharmacists not willing to immunise showed a higher probability to evaluate personnel resources (OR 2.98; 1.35-6.58, 95% CI; p = 0.007), close patient contact (OR 2.79; 1.46-5.34, 95% CI; p = 0.002) and management of side effects (OR 2.62; 1.21-5.67, 95% CI; p = 0.015) as (highly) critical. The majority assessed the 'right timing for training' to be after the foundation training with a 2-yearly renewal. Conclusion Austrian community pharmacists show a strong willingness to administer immunisations while highlighting important requirements and barriers towards service implementation.