Clinical pharmacists in general practice: a necessity not a luxury?

Abstract

Having a clinical pharmacist in the primary healthcare team is a ‘no brainer’. Prof. Avery1 suggests that any GP, and indeed patients, who have benefited from a clinical pharmacist working in their practice would never choose to be without their medicines expert. Take a look at the numbers. A practice serving a patient population of around 30 000 patients can expect to issue half a million prescriptions a year. They will have 1000 patients on more than eight medicines,2 there is a potential prescription error rate of 5%,3 and they might reasonably expect around 300 medication-related non-elective hospital admissions.4 However, as Prof. Avery alludes to, the payment model in general practice does not currently place any value on the quality and safety aspects of medicines usage. He also throws down …