| Summary: | Objective To describe the training undertaken by pharmacists employed in a
pharmacist-led information technology-based intervention study to reduce medication
errors in primary care (PINCER Trial), evaluate pharmacists’ assessment of the
training, and the time implications of undertaking the training.
Methods Six pharmacists received training, which included training on root cause
analysis and educational outreach, to enable them to deliver the PINCER Trial intervention.
This was evaluated using self-report questionnaires at the end of each training
session. The time taken to complete each session was recorded. Data from the
evaluation forms were entered onto a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, independently
checked and the summary of results further verified. Frequencieswere calculated for
responses to the three-point Likert scale questions. Free-text comments from the
evaluation forms and pharmacists’ diaries were analysed thematically.
Key findings All six pharmacists received 22 h of training over five sessions. In four
out of the five sessions, the pharmacists who completed an evaluation form (27 out
of 30were completed) stated theywere satisfied or very satisfiedwith the various elements
of the training package.Analysis of free-text comments and the pharmacists’
diaries showed that the principles of root cause analysis and educational outreach
were viewed as useful tools to help pharmacists conduct pharmaceutical interventions
in both the study and other pharmacy roles that they undertook. The opportunity
to undertake role play was a valuable part of the training received.
Conclusions Findings presented in this paper suggest that providing the PINCER
pharmacists with training in root cause analysis and educational outreach contributed
to the successful delivery of PINCER interventions and could potentially be utilised
by other pharmacists based in general practice to deliver pharmaceutical
interventions to improve patient safety.
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