Supplementary pharmacist prescribers' views about communication skills teaching and learning, and applying these new skills in practice

Objective: To explore supplementary pharmacist prescribers' (SPPs') views of communication skills teaching and learning, and its impact on their practice. Method: Semi-structured in-depth telephone interviews. Key findings: A total of 66/143 (46%) pharmacists consented to take part. Of these 66, nine SPPs were purposively selected to represent three different sectors of pharmacy: primary care, hospital and community. Questions for a semi-structured interview schedule were derived from themes identified from SPP self-reflective essays submitted earlier in the course. Framework analysis was used to interpret the data. SPPs' views of communication skills teaching and learning were positive. Topics raised as particularly useful were how to structure the consultation, eliciting a patient-centred history, including the patient's perspective on their situation and/or illness, and working in partnership with the patient. However, interviewees highlighted some practical difficulties with putting these new skills into practice. Conclusions: The results indicate that SPPs view communication skills training as changing aspects of their consultation practice. The communication skills identified for further development tended to be those not usually required in traditional pharmacy consultations. The results emphasise the importance of providing communication skills training for extended roles.