Analysis of community pharmacists work patterns

Abstract

This study was based on understanding how professional pharmacist time distribution in community pharmacy practice contributes to supporting transformation in scope of practice. The objective was to understand how community pharmacists spend their professional time within the pharmacy. Following an observational pilot study, a data framework was devised on the basis of which a time and motion study was carried out in one community pharmacy A, over 40 hours, to compile information on the distribution of activities carried out by pharmacists. This was replicated by running a second observational study in community pharmacy B, over 20 hours. Professional pharmaceutical services provided by the community pharmacists were identified. The strengths as well as weakness in the distribution of professional time in the community pharmacy were documented. The way in which pharmacists spend their time varied between the two pharmacies as a result of various factors such as layout of the pharmacy, the amount of assistance available to the pharmacist and differences in pharmacists’ working methods. The results of 40 hours of observation done in pharmacy A showed that medication dispensing is the activity which took up most of the pharmacists’ time (33%). The activities which took up the least amount of time include patient history review (2%), monitoring prescription for clinical appropriateness (2%), medication review (2%), as well as rest, waiting and breaks (2%). The results of 20 hours of observation done in pharmacy B showed that the activities which took up the most time included POYC: direct patient care (16%), non-prescription medication advice (15%) and responding to symptoms (15%). The activities which took up the least amount of time included waiting and breaks (1%). This observational study has shown that the way pharmacists spend their time varies between the two pharmacies. Nevertheless, in both settings a substantial amount of time is consumed performing different tasks, some of which are not patient-directed, healthcare professional duties.