While current
initiatives involve roles and practice developments of rural healthcare providers, there is potential to further enhance medication services in rural areas. The review has also shown the value of pharmacy along the medication pathway, and there is potential to better involve pharmacy to provide support mechanisms and/or medication consultation services. The Authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest to disclose. This work was supported by the Pharmacists Board of Queensland Pharmacy College Trust (grant number 2010000973). The authors EGFR inhibitor gratefully acknowledge technical assistance from Victoria Jarvis, BPharm MPS. “
“Objectives To identify the type and frequency of services provided through community pharmacies in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Methods A survey was conducted using an anonymous questionnaire distributed by hand to 700 community pharmacies. Items included information about the pharmacists and pharmacies, type of products sold, type and extent of enhanced Apoptosis Compound Library nmr services provided and perceived barriers to providing these services.
Key findings Most pharmacies provided a wide range of medicinal and non-medicinal products. The frequency with which services were provided was assessed on a scale of 1 (never) to 5 (always). Enhanced professional services were not provided to a large extent in most pharmacies. Fewer than one-third (29%) reported they always supplied printed information to patients (mean = 3.37, 95% confidence interval = 3.23–3.52); fewer than one-third (28%) counselled patients on a regular basis STK38 (3.25, 3.09–3.40); nearly two-thirds (62%) reported monitoring patients’ adherence to therapy at least sometimes (2.96, 2.81–3.10). Most pharmacies (92%) in the UAE did not routinely keep patient records (2.09, 1.96–2.32). While just over a quarter of respondents claimed that they always reported medication errors (27%) and adverse drug reactions (28%), these activities were not often performed in around 40% of pharmacies. Conclusions This is the first study to explore the type and extent of professional services
provided through community pharmacies in the UAE and provides baseline data critical to inform the development of strategies to improve the quality of community pharmacy services. “
“J. Waterfield De Montfort University, Leicester, UK To determine how ‘pharmacy knowledge’ is viewed by pharmacy educators There is a distinct contrast in how knowledge is defined between pharmaceutical scientists and pharmacy practitioners Theoretical insights into how pharmacy knowledge is utilised is vital for the ongoing development of the MPharm curriculum With the increasing emphasis on a more practice-based, integrated MPharm curriculum it is important to determine how pharmacy knowledge is viewed by different educators within the pharmacy education field.