Assessing the impact of a specialist mental health pharmacist in a primary care mental health service

Abstract
Introduction
There is an increasing demand for mental health
support in primary care for a variety of reasons.
An increasing effort has been made by the
pharmacy profession to improve the support it
provides to people with mental illness and to
address some of the health inequalities faced by
people with a mental illness. The NHS Long Term
Plan has committed to the development of 280
community-based mental health pharmacy roles
across England that will be supported by a
bespoke training pathway developed by Health
Education England (HEE).
Aim
To understand the contributions to care that can
be made by a specialist mental health pharmacist
in a primary care setting.
Objectives
• To understand the type of pharmaceutical
interventions and their outcomes that can be
made by a specialist mental health pharmacist
in a primary care setting
• To understand the service user experience of a
medication review led by a specialist mental
health pharmacist
Methodology
A data collection tool was developed to capture
the contributions to care made by the specialist
pharmacist, the data collection tool also offered
the opportunity to document ‘free text’ relevant
to the consultation. In order to capture the
service user experience, an anonymised
electronic patient questionnaire was developed
and sent to the patient following the
consultation. Quantitative data was analysed
descriptively, and free text analysed through
thematic analysis.
Conclusion
This evaluation indicates that a specialist mental
health pharmacist can add significant value to
patient care in a primary care setting. Their
contributions are generally well accepted by GPs
and patients alike.
Keywords:
Pharmacist, Pharmacy, Mental Health,
Psychiatry, Health Inequalities, Service
evaluation.