General practitioners’ perceptions of the current status and pharmacists’ contribution to primary care in Iceland

• Published in: International Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
• Main Authors: Blöndal, Anna Bryndis, Jonsson, Jon Steinar, Kälvemark Sporrong, Sofia, Almarsdóttir, Anna Birna
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2017
• Subjects: Iceland
• Online Access: https://curis.ku.dk/portal/da/publications/general-practitioners-perceptions-of-the-current-status-and-pharmacists-contribution-to-primary-care-in-iceland(b824c8f2-91b0-4306-9569-f628ac762bad).html; https://doi.org/10.1007/s11096-017-0478-7; http://rdcu.be/wGlh

Background For the past several years pharma- cists’ responsibilities have expanded globally from tradi- tional tasks of dispensing medications to collaborating with other health care professiona ls in patient care. Similar developments have not occurred in outpatient settings in Iceland. Objective The aim of this study was to explore Icelandic general practitioners’ views on the current status of primary care, their percept ions of pharmacists as a health care profession, and their attitudes towards future GP-pharmacist collaboration in primary care in Iceland. Setting Twelve primary care clinics in Iceland. Methods Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with general practitioners from different primary care clinics in Iceland. A purposive and snowbal l sampling technique was used to select participants. All interviews were recorded and transcrib ed verbatim. The transcripts were categorized by themes and then analyzed using conventional content analysis. Main outcome measure General practitioners’ attitudes towards pharmacists. Results Twenty general practitioners from twelve different primary care clinics in Iceland were interviewed. There are several unmet needs regarding medicines and patient monitoring in the Ice- landic health care system. General practitioners suggested ways in which these gaps may be addressed and pharma- cist-led clinical service was one of the suggestions. Currently, their communication with pharmacists in the primary sector solely surrounds practical non-clinical issues. Due to increas ing polypharmacy and multimorbid- ity, they suggested that pharmacists should be more involved in patient care. Conclusions General practiti oners believe that pharmac ist-led clinical service can increase the quality of patient therapy. To improve communication between these health care providers, pharmacists must also re-professionalize (strengthening the profession ´ s status through new responsibilities and tasks), not having a con- flict of interest and showing that they have expertise ...