Abstract
Background: Pharmacist prescribing legislation aims to enhance healthcare quality and accessibility. However, in many countries, like the Netherlands, it has not yet been legally established. Aim: To investigate pharmacists’ perspectives on potential pharmacist prescribing in the Netherlands. Method: An online survey using a questionnaire that was distributed via e-mail and electronic newsletters to most practicing pharmacists in the Netherlands during October and November 2023. The questionnaire was based on previous literature, further developed during an international conference with pharmacists and piloted with Dutch pharmacists. Agreement with statements about potential prescribing models, settings, preconditions, and perceived benefits and risks was measured using a 4-point Likert scale. Data were analysed descriptively. Results: In total, 625 participants from community pharmacy (n = 432; 69.1%), hospital pharmacy (n = 149; 23.8%), or other/combined settings (n = 44; 7.0%) completed the questionnaire. Most pharmacists (somewhat) agreed with the introduction of an independent prescribing model with limitations (n = 538; 86.1%) or a model dependent on collaborative agreements with physicians (n = 471; 75.4%). A minority (n = 245; 39.2%) supported independent prescribing with diagnostic authority. The precondition that participants most frequently (somewhat) agreed with was access to health records (n = 607; 97.1%). The most (somewhat) agreed-upon benefits were enhanced professional position of pharmacists (n = 574; 91.8%) and reduced workload for other prescribers (n = 573; 91.7%). Increased workload for pharmacists (n = 495; 79.2%) was the most (somewhat) agreed-upon identified risk. Conclusion: Pharmacists in the Netherlands are generally supportive of an independent but limited or collaborative pharmacist prescribing model. These findings support further investigations into the potential introduction of pharmacist prescribing legislation.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | e2421993 |
| Pages (from-to) | 392–402 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Journal | International Journal of Clinical Pharmacy |
| Volume | 47 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| Early online date | 1 Dec 2024 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2025 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© The Author(s) 2024.
Funding
We thank all the pharmacists who took time and participated in the survey. We also extend our gratitude to the pilot group, the Swedish students that were involved in developing the first pilot version and the PCNE workshop participants. Finally, we would like to thank Maren Schilling for the graphical design support.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Elisabeth and Alfred Ahlqvist foundation (SE) |
Keywords
- Drug prescribing
- Health policy
- Non-medical prescribing
- Pharmacists
- Surveys and questionnaires
- Task shifting
