Views and perceptions of key stakeholders in Qatar on pharmacist prescribing.

Background and Objective: Pharmacist prescribing has been implemented successfully in several countries around the world, with evidence of effectiveness, safety and acceptability. The Qatar Health Strategy provides the opportunity to advance further the clinical and prescribing role of the pharmacist. As part of considering this development, there was a need to gather the views and perceptions of key individuals in positions of strategic importance. The aim of this project is to explore the views and perceptions of stakeholders on the development and implementation of pharmacist prescribing in Qatar. Setting and Method: Qualitative, face-to-face interviews with indviduals in key strategic positions with policy influence (medical/pharmacy/nursing directors, hospital administrators, health academics, experts in patient safety as well as regulators and decision makers). Participants were recruited through purposive and snowballing sampling from different settings of: Ministry of Public Health, primary/secondary/tertiary health settings, community pharmacies and academic health institutions in Qatar. An interview schedule was drawn from an extensive search of the available literature, a systematic review being conducted by the investigators and the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR). The schedule was reviewed for credibility prior to piloting; interviews continued to the point of data saturation. Interviews were digitally recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed thematically by two independent researchers using CFIR as a coding framework. Ethical approval was obtained prior to conducting fieldwork. Main outcome measures: Awareness, experiences and views of: non-medical prescribing; clinical roles and prescribing by pharmacists; facilitators, barriers and solutions to pharmacist prescribing development and implementation. Results: Data saturation and representation of stakeholder groups was achieved following 36 interviews. Emerging CFIR themes were: intervention characteristics (evidence of pharmacist prescribing models internationally, advantages of pharmacist prescribing in Qatar, adaptability of international models to Qatar); outer setting (better meeting patient needs, degree of networking with external organisations); inner setting (quality of communication processes within an organisation, engagement of key leaders in development and implementation); ideal characteristics of pharmacist prescribers in Qatar; and process of designing, implementing and evaluating the intervention. Conclusion: Stakeholders held positive views around the potential for pharmacist prescribing in Qatar. CFIR themes will facilitate the development of frameworks for pharmacist prescribing in Qatar.