Patient Experiences of Community Pharmacy Medication Supply and Medicines Reconciliation at Hospital Discharge: A Pilot Qualitative Study

Patient Experiences of Community Pharmacy Medication Supply and Medicines Reconciliation at Hospital Discharge: A Pilot Qualitative Study

(1) Background: As part of the Scottish Government's five-year recovery plan to address the backlog in NHS care following the COVID-19 pandemic, community pharmacies in Scotland are planned to provide a Hospital Discharge Medicines Supply and Medicines Reconciliation Service. We aimed to qualit...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Pharmacy Vol. 12; no. 2; p. 66
Main Authors: Mundell, Rhona, Jamieson, Derek, Shaw, Gwen, Thomson, Anne, Forsyth, Paul
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01-04-2024
Subjects:
Admission and discharge
community pharmacy
Consent
Drug stores
Females
hospital pharmacy
Hospitals
Inner city
Interviews
Management
Medical care
medication
Patients
Pharmaceutical industry
Pharmaceuticals
Pharmacists
Primary care
Qualitative research
Quality management
Reconciliation
Sample size
Teaching hospitals
United Kingdom
United Kingdom > UK
England
Scotland
community pharmacy
hospital pharmacy
medication
qualitative research
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Summary:(1) Background: As part of the Scottish Government's five-year recovery plan to address the backlog in NHS care following the COVID-19 pandemic, community pharmacies in Scotland are planned to provide a Hospital Discharge Medicines Supply and Medicines Reconciliation Service. We aimed to qualitatively explore patients' experiences with this new service. (2) Method: Adult patients (≥18 years age) who consented to participate in the Community Pharmacy Hospital Discharge and Medicines Reconciliation Service were invited for an interview within 21 days of discharge from hospital. Qualitative, one-to-one, semi-structured patient interviews were conducted by telephone and audio-recorded using Microsoft Teams . The interview audio recordings were transcribed verbatim and underwent thematic analysis. (3) Results: Twelve patients were interviewed, evenly split by sex and with a median age of 62 years (range 36 to 88 years). Our analysis generated main five themes: patient engagement, stakeholder communication, practical factors, human factors, and comparative experiences. Many of these were interdependent. (4) Conclusions: Patients appreciated that the service ensured a quicker discharge from hospital. Good stakeholder communication, practical factors (including choice, location, and the realities of obtaining their medication from the community pharmacy), and a pre-existing and trusted relationship in their usual community pharmacy were the key factors that regulated the patient experience. Generally, patients were positive about the introduction of this new service. However, the lack of a previous relationship or trust with a community pharmacy, and previous experiences with medication supply problems were factors which had the potential to negatively impact patient experiences.
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ISSN:2226-4787
2226-4787
DOI:10.3390/pharmacy12020066