Background: Hepatitis C is a common infection among people who attend GPs for methadone maintenance treatment.
Aim: To determine the views of GPs towards clinical guidelines for the management of hepatitis C among current or former injecting drug users in advance of their implementation.
Methods: A purposive sample of 14 GPs (10% of the total prescribing methadone at the time the guidelines were developed) was invited to review a pre-publication draft of the guidelines and interviewed regarding content, presentation, perceived barriers to implementation and suggested interventions to facilitate effective implementation of the guidelines.
Results: GPs indicated the guidelines were useful but suggested aspects of presentation should be clarified. Organisational issues were identified as the principal barriers to effective implementation, with the provision of additional nursing support the principal intervention suggested to facilitate implementation.
Conclusions: Interviewing intended recipients may be an important step in ensuring clinical practice guidelines are effectively implemented.