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Community Pharmacists in Malaysia: Are They Ready for the Next Leap Forward?
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Abstracts / Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy 10 (2014) e1–e64
Results: Ninety two patients were included in the study. 7353 drug doses were reviewed. 1563 (21.3%) medication errors were identified. The majority of medication errors identified were documentation errors during administration process (59%). These were followed by errors detected during transcription (15%), dispensing (14%), and prescribing (7%). Five percent of errors were associated with errors in drug distribution and health insurance systems. Pharmacist identified eight incomplete medication histories during medication reconciliation, intercepted 24 dispensing errors and prevented eight administration errors. Conclusions: Pharmacist’s clinical review activities can detect and intercept medication errors during medication delivery process. The success of such activities however requires the collaboration of other healthcare professionals, as well as patients.
Community Pharmacists in Malaysia: Are They Ready for the Next Leap Forward? G.S. Ooi1, M.A. Hassali1, A.A. Shafie1, D.C.M. Kong2, G.N. Chua1, V.S.L. Mak3, 1Universiti Sains Malaysia, Minden, Penang, Malaysia, 2Monash University, Parkville, Victoria, Australia, 3International Medical University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Roles of community pharmacists (CPs) have evolved in many parts of the world. In developing countries such as Malaysia, little is known about the future of CPs role in the broader context of healthcare delivery system. Furthermore, published literature on the readiness of CPs in Malaysia towards professional practice change under the proposed health care reform is very limited. This study was conducted to explore the perceptions of CPs and general practitioners (GPs) in Malaysia towards non-dispensing extended pharmacist roles in the health care system. Methods: A qualitative methodology was adopted for the conduct of this study. Thirteen CPs and twelve GPs were recruited using purposive sampling technique. The study was approved by Joint Ethics Committee of School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, USM – Hospital Lam Wah Ee for health related studies. Face-to-face indepth interview was conducted using semi-structured guide with selected CPs and GPs until saturation of themes. Appropriate prompting was used during the interviews to develop more thorough responses from the participants. The interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. The content of the transcript were verified by each respondent. Thematic content analysis was performed by the primary author. The themes generated were independently verified later by other co-authors. Results: Analysis of the interviews suggested that most CPs were eager to provide extended services but have refrained to do so due to non-existence of separate roles in dispensing activities between CPs and GPs. Most GPs supported the CPs’ involvements in providing healthcare
services and advices but there are concerned towards CPs’ ethics and professionalism. The challenges encountered are multi-factorial and, are related to the existing healthcare system. Three major themes were identified: barriers to professional development, trends of community pharmacy practice in Malaysia and perspectives towards the implementation of dispensing separation. The common barriers were lack of recognition, productoriented practices and lack of communication between healthcare practitioners. All the respondents indicated that there is a need of practice-change in Malaysia in order for the profession to serve the community better. Participants expressed their concern and opinions towards the future of community pharmacy. Most stated that the responsibilities lie on government and health practitioners themselves. The implementation of dispensing separation has been one of the hot debatable issues among the Malaysian CPs and GPs for many years.[2] In the absence of dispensing separation, professional image and reimbursement remains a concern. A mixture of responses were received from the GPs. Most of them were supportive towards the implementation if proper planning and execution can be introduced by the policy makers. Conclusions: This study has provided critical insight for the development of strategies to improve the quality and roles of community pharmacy services in Malaysia. The current study showed that community pharmacists believed they have important roles in the healthcare system and, are willing to work collaboratively in delivering optimal healthcare to the public, yet, they need to earn respect and trust from the public and other healthcare practitioners.
Community Pharmacists’ Working Practices: Interruptions, Distractions and Potential Implications for Workload Management and Patient Safety V.M. Lea, S.A. Corlett, R.M. Rodgers, Medway School of Pharmacy, Universities of Kent and Greenwich, Chatham, Kent, United Kingdom To utilise non-participant observation to explore community pharmacists’ working practices, with a view to understanding potential implications for workload management and patient safety. Method: Eleven pharmacists working in eleven community pharmacies in England were recruited by postal invite. Non-participant, unstructured observation captured a narrative of all activities undertaken by pharmacists at work. Inductive content analysis determined key emergent themes. A National Health Service Research Ethics Committee granted ethical approval; written and oral consent was given by participants. Results: The sample comprised pharmacists with a range of experience and employment status, working in diverse community pharmacy settings. Total time observed was 124 hours. Interruptions and distractions were key themes. Interruptions meant pharmacists rarely
Abstracts / Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy 10 (2014) e1–e64
Results: Ninety two patients were included in the study. 7353 drug doses were reviewed. 1563 (21.3%) medication errors were identified. The majority of medication errors identified were documentation errors during administration process (59%). These were followed by errors detected during transcription (15%), dispensing (14%), and prescribing (7%). Five percent of errors were associated with errors in drug distribution and health insurance systems. Pharmacist identified eight incomplete medication histories during medication reconciliation, intercepted 24 dispensing errors and prevented eight administration errors. Conclusions: Pharmacist’s clinical review activities can detect and intercept medication errors during medication delivery process. The success of such activities however requires the collaboration of other healthcare professionals, as well as patients.
Community Pharmacists in Malaysia: Are They Ready for the Next Leap Forward? G.S. Ooi1, M.A. Hassali1, A.A. Shafie1, D.C.M. Kong2, G.N. Chua1, V.S.L. Mak3, 1Universiti Sains Malaysia, Minden, Penang, Malaysia, 2Monash University, Parkville, Victoria, Australia, 3International Medical University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Roles of community pharmacists (CPs) have evolved in many parts of the world. In developing countries such as Malaysia, little is known about the future of CPs role in the broader context of healthcare delivery system. Furthermore, published literature on the readiness of CPs in Malaysia towards professional practice change under the proposed health care reform is very limited. This study was conducted to explore the perceptions of CPs and general practitioners (GPs) in Malaysia towards non-dispensing extended pharmacist roles in the health care system. Methods: A qualitative methodology was adopted for the conduct of this study. Thirteen CPs and twelve GPs were recruited using purposive sampling technique. The study was approved by Joint Ethics Committee of School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, USM – Hospital Lam Wah Ee for health related studies. Face-to-face indepth interview was conducted using semi-structured guide with selected CPs and GPs until saturation of themes. Appropriate prompting was used during the interviews to develop more thorough responses from the participants. The interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. The content of the transcript were verified by each respondent. Thematic content analysis was performed by the primary author. The themes generated were independently verified later by other co-authors. Results: Analysis of the interviews suggested that most CPs were eager to provide extended services but have refrained to do so due to non-existence of separate roles in dispensing activities between CPs and GPs. Most GPs supported the CPs’ involvements in providing healthcare
services and advices but there are concerned towards CPs’ ethics and professionalism. The challenges encountered are multi-factorial and, are related to the existing healthcare system. Three major themes were identified: barriers to professional development, trends of community pharmacy practice in Malaysia and perspectives towards the implementation of dispensing separation. The common barriers were lack of recognition, productoriented practices and lack of communication between healthcare practitioners. All the respondents indicated that there is a need of practice-change in Malaysia in order for the profession to serve the community better. Participants expressed their concern and opinions towards the future of community pharmacy. Most stated that the responsibilities lie on government and health practitioners themselves. The implementation of dispensing separation has been one of the hot debatable issues among the Malaysian CPs and GPs for many years.[2] In the absence of dispensing separation, professional image and reimbursement remains a concern. A mixture of responses were received from the GPs. Most of them were supportive towards the implementation if proper planning and execution can be introduced by the policy makers. Conclusions: This study has provided critical insight for the development of strategies to improve the quality and roles of community pharmacy services in Malaysia. The current study showed that community pharmacists believed they have important roles in the healthcare system and, are willing to work collaboratively in delivering optimal healthcare to the public, yet, they need to earn respect and trust from the public and other healthcare practitioners.
Community Pharmacists’ Working Practices: Interruptions, Distractions and Potential Implications for Workload Management and Patient Safety V.M. Lea, S.A. Corlett, R.M. Rodgers, Medway School of Pharmacy, Universities of Kent and Greenwich, Chatham, Kent, United Kingdom To utilise non-participant observation to explore community pharmacists’ working practices, with a view to understanding potential implications for workload management and patient safety. Method: Eleven pharmacists working in eleven community pharmacies in England were recruited by postal invite. Non-participant, unstructured observation captured a narrative of all activities undertaken by pharmacists at work. Inductive content analysis determined key emergent themes. A National Health Service Research Ethics Committee granted ethical approval; written and oral consent was given by participants. Results: The sample comprised pharmacists with a range of experience and employment status, working in diverse community pharmacy settings. Total time observed was 124 hours. Interruptions and distractions were key themes. Interruptions meant pharmacists rarely