New Publication: Community pharmacists in England's opinions on skill mix and delegation

Our latest publication with Wiley Online Library, looks at the opinions of pharmacist’s in England on dental skill-mix and delegation.

This study aimed to report on community pharmacists’ opinions on skill-mix and explore how they can be addressed so that skill-mix may be optimised. A questionnaire was issued to lead pharmacists in community pharmacies in England to explore their opinions on skill mix.

Results uncovered practice factors that influenced views on skill mix. From 26 opinion statements on skill mix, three factors were identified by principal-components factor analysis: pharmacies that were ‘working well’, ‘feeling the pressure’ and ‘open to development’. These were related to the pharmacy (business type (chain/single), hours open and number of prescriptions dispensed) and the pharmacist (role, e.g. manager/owner/second pharmacist, and years qualified) characteristics. The results suggested that being in a position to influence (more experienced, business owners) may be associated with more positive opinions. Further training (including about legalities and leadership) could contribute to optimising skill-mix in community pharmacies.

This paper follows on from our Pharmacy Research UK funded project “Optimising skill mix in dentistry: dental therapists, direct access and the future”, a collaboration with WCPPE.

You can read the full publication here.

Further details on the project available here.