Nationally and internationally, the pharmacist’s role has changed substantially over recent years with a move away from the traditional function of medicine supply to a more patient-centred focus combined with collaborative working with other health professionals. To maximise the efficient use of resources, these changes should be guided by evidence. A growing number of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) have been conducted of pharmacist interventions, and there is now a need to synthesise this evidence and assess the value of different kinds of pharmacist interventions. This project will identify and combine the results of individual studies which have evaluated the contribution which pharmacists can make to (i) the use of medicines by patients and (ii) the prescribing behaviour of health professionals. These services often comprise a combination of different components or ingredients. It can be difficult to identify which ingredient or combinations of ingredients are most effective i.e. achieve the best results. We will examine and categorise the ingredients in each service and identify which ones are effective as well as ones which are not effective. The results of this project will be used to identify effective services which pharmacist can provide which directly benefit patient health and well-being. These results will be relevant to patient, health professionals and policy makers.
Contacts
- HSRU email; hsru@abdn.ac.uk
Status
CompletedPublications
This review is an updated version of the 2010 Cochrane Review “Effect of outpatient pharmacists’ non-dispensing roles on patient outcomes and prescribing patterns (Review)” by Nkansah et al. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20614422