All letters are subject to editing and may be shortened. General letters can be sent to bjgpdisc{at}rcgp.org.uk (please include your postal address for publication), and letters responding directly to BJGP articles can be submitted online via eLetters. We regret we cannot notify authors regarding publication.
For submission instructions visit: bjgp.org/letters
We are pleased to see how physicians can work with pharmacists in medical practice.1 As ex-pharmacists and now physicians, we want to suggest the following tasks to be delegated to pharmacists:
Monitoring drug therapies: dosing drugs like warfarin, vancomycin, and aminoglycosides can be like chasing your tail. Non-adherence to immunisations is an ongoing public health concern. Pharmacists are trained to perform pharmacokinetic monitoring and intramuscular injections. Why not let those experts monitor patients’ drug levels and adherence to therapies?
Adverse drug reactions: documented penicillin allergy requires systematic assessment, due to increased risk of MRSA and C. difficile mediated by alternative antibiotic uses.2,3 Established allergy assessment methods, such as the Naranjo algorithm, are time consuming and may not be achievable during a 10-minute consultation. Why not let our pharmacists aid with adverse drug reaction assessment, which was shown to complement the drug history taken by physicians?4
Medication reconciliation: medication discrepancies post-hospital discharge are frequent patient safety risks. We have worked in one hospital where pharmacists draft discharge medication lists, and physicians check and co-sign the prescriptions. Why not let community and hospital pharmacists liaise with each other, and provide better communication to dispensaries?
Drug coverage: drug counselling and insurance coverage are listed as the most needed tasks where physicians want pharmacists’ help.5 The NHS is often finding ways to stop funding drugs. Why not ask our pharmacists to find effective, low-cost alternatives for patients?
Audit and research: many community pharmacists want to be involved in audit and research, but lack the opportunity. GPs are keen to improve the quality of their ongoing audit and research. Why not collaboratively perform these projects together?
Physicians are sometimes guilty of ‘dumping’ work on each other when facing heavy workloads.5 The aforementioned tasks may sound tedious to physicians, but are excellent opportunities for pharmacists to optimise patient care. Are there good reasons for physicians to not collaborate with pharmacists?
- © British Journal of General Practice 2018