GP pharmacists trial success

PHARMACISTS have a valuable role to play in the detection and resolution of drug-related problems as part of a general practice team, according to a new study based on the outcomes of a six month trial in Western Sydney.

The WentWest General Practice Pharmacist Project was commissioned to improve medication management of GP patients, with the study undertaken by University of Technology Sydney researchers and published this month in the International Journal of Clinical Pharmacy.

A key focus was the performance of medication reviews by the pharmacists to allow the detection of any issues, with the research undertaken from Oct 2016-Mar 2017 aiming to identify and classify the drug-related problems (DRPs) detected as a result of pharmacist activities within a general practice primary care setting.

The study also compared the number of pharmacist recommendations and their acceptance by GPs as a result of pharmacist-patient consultations across 15 general practice sites.

Six pharmacists recorded the results from 493 patient consultations, with more than 1,100 drug related problems identified by the pharmacists.

The pharmacists made 984 recommendations, of which 685 (70%) were recorded as accepted by the GP.

Key issues highlighted including medication use without indication, as well as over- or under-dosage.

The Pharmaceutical Society of Australia has made embedding pharmacists into the general practice environment a key proposal as part of its 2018-19 Federal Budget submission - see www.psa.org.au.