Table 1.
Characteristics of the prescribing support team (pharmacists and pharmacy technicians)
| Pre-2016, n= 12a | New staff from 2016, n= 10 | |
|---|---|---|
| Age in years, median (range) | 40 (29–61) | 33 (28–50) |
|
| ||
| Sex: female (%) | 11 (92) | 8 (80) |
|
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| Years since qualified, median (range) | 17 (7–39) | 9 (6–26) |
|
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| Years working in general practice, median (range) | 9 (3–17) | 0 |
|
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| Previous experience working in: | ||
| Community pharmacy only | 6 | 8 |
| Hospital pharmacy only | 3 | 1 |
| Community and hospital | 3 | 1 |
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| Staff with extra postgraduate qualifications, n (%)b | 9 (75) | 3 (30) |
|
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| Non-medical prescribers, n (%)c | 10 (100) | 3 (43) |
a
Pre-2016 staffing hours equated to four whole-time equivalent (WTE) pharmacists, two WTE pharmacy technicians, one WTE administration assistant, and one WTE lead clinical pharmacist. It was expanded to include an additional eight WTE pharmacists and two WTE pharmacy technicians for 2016–2017.
b
Advanced clinical training skills: clinical pharmacy or prescribing sciences postgraduate studies from certificate to Masters level, and beyond.
c
Ten pre-2016 and seven new pharmacists respectively.