Abstract
BackgroundSuicide prevention is a global priority. Despite the focus on primary care in suicide prevention, little is known about the contributory role of community pharmacists and nothing about the role of the wider community pharmacy team in this area. We aimed to explore the current and potential role of community pharmacy teams in self-harm and suicide prevention.MethodsWe conducted one-to-one semi-structured qualitative interviews with community pharmacy staff (pharmacists, pre-registration pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, dispensing/pharmacy assistants, delivery drivers) in the North West of England, UK. We identified themes from the interview transcripts through an iterative process of inductive thematic analysis.ResultsWe conducted twenty-five interviews with community pharmacy staff. Many described examples of helping those who were contemplating suicide or self-harm. No participants had received suicide prevention training. We identified six themes. The first two themes (i) Relationship with Patient and (ii) Pharmacy environment were seen as facilitators, which, if supported by (iii) Training, could underpin the final three themes: (iv) Opportunities for contact, (v) Facilitated referral pathway and (v) Restricting access to means. The distinct lack of training should be overcome with evidence-informed training. Referral pathways should be clear and enable direct and accessible referral by community pharmacy teams. There are opportunities for existing pharmacy services and schemes to be adapted to maximise suicide and self-harm prevention activities. Pharmacy teams did not identify themselves to have a clear role in restricting access to medication.ConclusionsPharmacy teams already support patients in relation to self-harm and suicide, often relying on their personal experience in the absence of formal training. With the implementation of evidence-informed training and clear referral pathways, this could be done in a more effectively.
Highlights
Over 800,000 people die worldwide by suicide every year [1] and in 2017 there were 5,821 registered suicides in the UK alone [2]
The first two themes (i) Relationship with Patient and (ii) Pharmacy environment were seen as facilitators, which, if supported by (iii) Training, could underpin the final three themes: (iv) Opportunities for contact, (v) Facilitated referral pathway and (v) Restricting access to means
In the Scottish Government’s 2018 suicide prevention plan, “Every Life Matters”, NHS pharmacists are specified as healthcare professionals who should undertake mandatory suicide prevention training, which will be available from May 2019 [7]
Summary
Over 800,000 people die worldwide by suicide every year [1] and in 2017 there were 5,821 registered suicides in the UK alone [2]. Pharmacy staff are named as frontline clinical professionals in the National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health/Health Education England (NCCMH/HEE) Suicide and Self-harm Competency Frameworks, published in 2018 [8]. Despite these acknowledgements, the vision or expectation of the role of pharmacy teams has not been described. Despite the focus on primary care in suicide prevention, little is known about the contributory role of community pharmacists and nothing about the role of the wider community pharmacy team in this area. We aimed to explore the current and potential role of community pharmacy teams in self-harm and suicide prevention
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