• Oscar James, Karen Cardwell, Frank Moriarty, Susan M Smith, and Barbara Clyne.
• HRB Centre for Primary Care Research, Department of General Practice, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), 123 St. Stephens Green, Dublin 2, Republic of Ireland.
• Fam Pract. 2020 Oct 19; 37 (5): 711-718.

BackgroundThere is some evidence to suggest that pharmacists integrated into primary care improves patient outcomes and prescribing quality. Despite this growing evidence, there is a lack of detail about the context of the role.ObjectiveTo explore the implementation of The General Practice Pharmacist (GPP) intervention (pharmacists integrating into general practice within a non-randomized pilot study in Ireland), the experiences of study participants and lessons for future implementation.Design And SettingProcess evaluation with a descriptive qualitative approach conducted in four purposively selected GP practices.MethodsA process evaluation with a descriptive qualitative approach was conducted in four purposively selected GP practices. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, transcribed verbatim and analysed using a thematic analysis.ResultsTwenty-three participants (three pharmacists, four GPs, four patients, four practice nurses, four practice managers and four practice administrators) were interviewed. Themes reported include day-to-day practicalities (incorporating location and space, systems and procedures and pharmacists' tasks), relationships and communication (incorporating GP/pharmacist mode of communication, mutual trust and respect, relationship with other practice staff and with patients) and role perception (incorporating shared goals, professional rewards, scope of practice and logistics).ConclusionsPharmacists working within the general practice team have potential to improve prescribing quality. This process evaluation found that a pharmacist joining the general practice team was well accepted by the GP and practice staff and effective interprofessional relationships were described. Patients were less clear of the overall benefits. Important barriers (such as funding, infrastructure and workload) and facilitators (such as teamwork and integration) to the intervention were identified which will be incorporated into a pilot cluster randomized controlled trial.© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

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