EXPLORING THE PERCEPTION OF HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS REGARDING CLINICAL PHARMACY SERVICES IN A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL OF KARACHI
Keywords:
Clinical Pharmacy Services, Healthcare Professionals, Reflexive Thematic Analysis, Qualitative Research, Interprofessional CollaborationAbstract
Background: Clinical pharmacy services (CPS) have been recognized around the world as playing a vital role in the enhancement of patient safety; however, this role is not widely exploited in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) including Pakistan, primarily because of systemic and traditional challenges. The study aims to explore the perceptions of healthcare professionals (HCPs) about clinical significance, organizational contribution, obstacles, challenges, and prospects for the expansion of CPS in a tertiary care hospital of Karachi.
Methodology: This was a qualitative study with a multi-disciplinary sample of nine key stakeholders selected through purposive sampling, based on an interpretivist-constructivist paradigm. Semi-structured face-to-face interviews were used to collect primary data on medication reviews, ward rounds and barriers to integration. Braun and Clarke's six phase framework were used to analyze data in the process of Reflexive Thematic Analysis (RTA).
Findings: The data showed a change in professional identity where HCPs consider pharmacists to be not only dispensers but critical clinical partners and cognitive process optimizers who can cut medical workloads by almost 50%. Pharmacists are essential back-up colleagues who alleviate the cognitive strain for physicians with regard to possible prescribing errors. CPS is an economically focused resource steward: cost-effective conversions to oral formulations are performed and therapy is managed. But fragility of the system, as reflected by the extreme shortage of clinical pharmacists and the ego factor, or cultural resistance, continue to limit integration.
Conclusions: HCPs see CPS as an essential clinical requirement to guarantee therapeutic accuracy and operational efficiency. To achieve its full potential in Pakistan, specialized professionals, interprofessional training and role definition within the institutions need to be increased.
