Exploring Australian community pharmacists' experiences of regulatory change: a qualitative study

Shifts in primary healthcare needs and expanding scope of practice have spearheaded regulatory change in Australian pharmacy practice. The effect of regulation on pharmacists has implications for regulators and other stakeholders within the regulatory system. The aim of this study was to explore practising community pharmacists' personal experiences of regulatory change, focussing on their awareness and implementation of these changes, as well as the perceived impacts on their own practice, other healthcare professionals, and patients.

Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted on Zoom® with community pharmacists, who were recruited via social media posts and newsletters. Questions covered core topic areas of demographics, impacts of regulatory changes, communication of those changes, and their enforcement. After transcription, qualitative content analysis was undertaken.

Fourteen pharmacists were interviewed. Most were early career pharmacists (≤6 years post-registration experience), identified as female (n = 11), and practiced in New South Wales (n = 13). Four categories were generated from the analysis: (1) Challenges of maintaining currency, (2) Burdens imposed by regulatory change, (3) Benefits of regulatory change, and (4) Achieving successful implementation.

The findings indicated that regulatory oversight organizations need to invest more in consultation during regulatory design, communicate change in a timely way with all healthcare professionals, and provide supportive implementation strategies to aid compliance. It is hoped that this research will be leveraged by regulators and stakeholders to enable optimization of future regulation.