Impact of an expanded ward pharmacy technician role on service-delivery and workforce outcomes in a subacute aged care service

Abstract

Background Ward pharmacy technicians (WPTs) support hospital pharmacists in the provision of clinical pharmacy services, however they are under‐utilised in Australia. Aim To evaluate the impact of an expanded WPT role within a 56‐bed subacute aged care inpatient service. Method The expanded WPT role included increased hours (from approximately 15.2 to 38 h/week) and an expanded scope of practice. WPT tasks included: assisting with individual patient medication supply, screening medication charts for changes, assisting with medication reconciliation and recording laboratory data for review by the pharmacist. The impact of the redesigned role on workforce and service‐delivery outcomes was evaluated in a prospective before–after study. Data were collected using self‐report, time‐and‐motion studies, dispensing reports and surveys. Results WPT assistance with individual patient medication supply increased from <60% to >80%. In the new workforce model, the WPT assisted with medication reconciliation and recording laboratory data on admission for more than 80% patients. The proportion of pharmacist time spent on clinical tasks increased from 58.0% to 73.9% (p < 0.0001), and unpaid pharmacist overtime fell from a median of 58.4 to 13.4 min/day (p < 0.0001). The median number of pharmacist interventions to resolve medication‐related problems increased from 4 to 9/day (p < 0.0001), and interventions were made earlier in the admission. There were improvements in ward staff satisfaction with some aspects of the pharmacy service, and in the pharmacist's and WPT’s satisfaction with their roles. Conclusion An expanded WPT role improved clinical pharmacy service‐delivery, staff satisfaction and patient care.

Standard of practice in geriatric medicine for pharmacy services

“…The ideal geriatric medicine clinical pharmacy service and associated full‐time equivalent geriatric medicine pharmacist staffing ratios for different aged care settings are described in Tables and 3 respectively. These recommendations are based on published evidence consensus guidelines and consultation with experienced geriatric medicine pharmacists and geriatricians. They assume the pharmacist will be primarily providing clinical services and will have limited or no direct involvement in medicines supply functions.…”

“…Where possible, pharmacy technicians should be employed to support the geriatric medicine clinical pharmacist, because this has been shown to increase the number of patients able to be reviewed by the pharmacist and improve timeliness of review . Tasks that can be undertaken by pharmacy technicians are described elsewhere…”

Best practices: Incorporating pharmacy technicians and other support personnel into the clinical pharmacist's process of care

“…After significant investments in their training, keeping such personnel engaged and advancing will be essential to retention. Technicians engaged in medication reconciliation have reported relief from repetitive dispensing tasks . Authors of recent workforce surveys suggest that technicians are responsive to assuming increased responsibility .…”

Clinical Pharmacy Technician and Human Resources Requirements at MOH Primary Healthcare Centers during Ten years Mass Gathering Hajj (2006-2015) in Makah and Al-Medina Regions, Saudi Arabia

“…The demand clinical role of a pharmacy technician is very high especially in mass gathering hajj time at primary care centers . [7][8][9] The workforces of clinical pharmacy technician standards at MOH organization missed. It seems the mass gathering pharmaceutical care during hajj, and the assessment of pharmaceutical care program first studied in 2016 but not included pharmacy technician.…”