AUCKLAND University's School of Pharmacy has published research into the factors that resulted in suboptimal practice in community pharmacies during the pandemic.
Interviewing pharmacists in 2021, 80% of those surveyed agreed that sub-optimal practice had increased in the past five years.
Increasing workloads, particularly over the period of the Covid-19, pandemic had been a significant contributor.
Issues included staffing and time constraints, higher work volume to staffing ratio, a lack of funding leading to cost cutting, stock shortages, and a lack of equipment.
Other themes included poor workflow, lack of standard operating procedures, mess and disorganisation, poor lighting, and no lunch or break periods.
The research funded by the Pharmacy Council in New Zealand aimed to understand the broader context of community pharmacy practice and establish a better understanding of risks to practice than provided by notifications, complaints data, or Medsafe's Pharmacy Quality Audit data alone.
The Council's focus is on understanding the potential risk of pharmacists' practice and establishing whether risks can be properly addressed.
This may not require a formal regulatory response to the risk, but a response by pharmacists themselves or other stakeholders.
Council was awaiting further analysis from this research, and asked pharmacists to address the factors affecting work practices by learning more HERE.
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