Meeting educational needs of pharmaceutical stakeholders : community practice

Abstract

Pharmacy support staff roles have evolved following the implementation of more patient centered pharmacy services and the expanding role of community pharmacists in the primary health care system. A relevant level of competence of the community pharmacy working team is essential to meet the expanding scope of patient-focused practice. The aim of this study was to describe current pharmacy support staff structures in community pharmacy in Malta, and to identify education and training needs for pharmacy support staff. A self-administered questionnaire was created in Google Forms, validated and disseminated online via the Facebook group ’Maltese Pharmacists and Pharmacy students’ with instructions to be completed by managing pharmacists who practice in a pharmacy which is part of a group or in an independent pharmacy. The questionnaire addresses pharmacy support staff structure, expected skills, health care services which pharmacy support staff could be trained on, and additional educational and training needs. Descriptive statistics were calculated. A one-hour focus group discussion on five validated open-ended questions was conducted online via Zoom application between six participants included in recruitment process of pharmacy support staff. Data was analysed using the content analysing method. Sixty managing pharmacists responded to the questionnaire; 30 practicing in a pharmacy which is part of a group and 30 in independent pharmacies. The identified pharmacy support staff structure consisted mostly of salespersons (n=53), followed by pharmacy student trainees (n=27). As regards pharmacy support staff skills, managing pharmacists from independent pharmacies considered communication skills as most important (n=27) and pharmacists from pharmacies part of a group considered motivation to learn as most important (n=25). Communication skills were considered very important by 5 of the 6 focus group participants. The majority of the managing pharmacists recognised the potential of support staff to be trained on various health care services mostly drug waste management (n=51), monitoring of blood pressure (n=39) and dispensing of medicines through the Pharmacy of Your Choice national health service scheme (n=38). Managing pharmacists suggested that educational training for support staff include the training on non-prescription products (n=9), skin care (n=7) and nutrition supplements (n=7). The focus group participants suggested practical training on topics including non-prescription medicines, cosmetics and self-care and highlighted the importance for non-pharmacist staff to know when to refer a patient to the pharmacist. The managing pharmacists from both groups agreed that additional training would ensure a consistent (n=48) and higher level of pharmacy service provision (n=43) and increase patient satisfaction (n=43). The focus group participants agreed that the support staff training would increase in professionalism (n=4). Respondents in this study emphasised communication skills and motivation to learn as very important skills for pharmacy support staff. The study indicates that pharmacy support staff have the potential to be engaged more in following increased and more complex health care needs of the community. The targeted topic areas for further training of non-pharmacist staff included non-prescription products, skin care, nutrition and food supplements.