Multidisciplinary perspectives on roles of hospital pharmacists in tertiary settings: a qualitative study.

In today's complex healthcare landscape, exacerbated by resource constraints at various levels, optimization of health professionals' roles is becoming increasingly paramount. Interprofessional collaboration, underpinned by role recognition and teamwork, leads to improved patient and organizational outcomes. Hospital pharmacists play a pivotal role in multidisciplinary teams, and it is imperative to understand multidisciplinary viewpoints on hospital pharmacists' roles to guide role prioritization and organizational efficiency. However, no study extensively investigated multidisciplinary views on values of diverse pharmacist roles in tertiary settings. This study aims to address this gap by examining non-pharmacist health professionals' views on hospital pharmacists' roles, recognizing their specialized niches as a crucial step towards optimizing their roles and services in Australia and internationally. Multiple focus group discussions and interviews were held via a virtual conferencing platform. Study participants were recruited using the study investigators' professional networks who were non-pharmacist health professionals with experience working with pharmacists in hospital settings. Data were collected from transcripts of the focus group recordings, which were later summarized using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. Overarching themes were categorized and mapped against work system models to conceptualize organizational implications of multidisciplinary feedback, linking them to patient and organizational outcomes. Twenty-seven health professionals participated across focus groups and interviews, with the majority of professions being doctors and nurses. Three major themes were identified as follows: (i) overarching perceptions regarding hospital pharmacists; (ii) professional niches of hospital pharmacists; and (iii) future opportunities to optimize hospital pharmacy services. Valued professional niches included patient and health professional educators, transition-of-care facilitators, and quality use of medicines analysts. The study highlights critical insights into hospital pharmacists' roles in Australia, identifying their niche expertise as vital to healthcare efficiency and success. Based on multidisciplinary feedback, the study advocates for strategic role optimization and targeted research for enhanced clinical, economic, and organizational outcomes.

Enhanced Skin Permeation of 5-Fluorouracil through Drug-in-Adhesive Topical Patches.

5-fluorouracil (5-FU), commercially available as a topical product, is approved for non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) treatment with several clinical limitations. This work aimed to develop 5-FU-loaded topical patches as a potential alternative to overcome such drawbacks. The patches offer accurate dosing, controlled drug release and improved patient compliance. Our study highlights the development of Eudragit® E (EuE)-based drug-in-adhesive (DIA) patches containing a clinically significant high level of 5-FU (approximately 450 µg/cm2) formulated with various chemical permeation enhancers. The patches containing Transcutol® (Patch-TRAN) or oleic acid (Patch-OA) demonstrated significantly higher skin penetration ex vivo than their control counterpart, reaching 5-FU concentrations of 76.39 ± 27.7 µg/cm2 and 82.56 ± 8.2 µg/cm2, respectively. Furthermore, the findings from in vitro permeation studies also validated the superior skin permeation of 5-FU achieved by Patch-OA and Patch-TRAN over 72 h. Moreover, the EuE-based DIA patch platform demonstrated suitable adhesive and mechanical properties with an excellent safety profile evaluated through an inaugural in vivo human study involving 11 healthy volunteers. In conclusion, the DIA patches could be a novel alternative option for NMSC as the patches effectively deliver 5-FU into the dermis layer and receptor compartment ex vivo for an extended period with excellent mechanical and safety profiles.

Perceptions and expectations of health professionals regarding hospital pharmacy services and the roles of hospital pharmacists: A qualitative systematic review and meta-synthesis.

Background: Pharmacists have become increasingly integrated within the interprofessional hospital team as their scope of practice expanded in recent decades. However, limited research has explored how the roles of hospital pharmacists are perceived by other health professionals. Aim/Objectives: To identify what is known about the perceptions of hospital pharmacists' roles and hospital pharmacy services held by non-pharmacist health professionals. Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted in August 2022 in MEDLINE, Embase, and CINAHL to identify peer-reviewed articles published between 2011 and 2022. Title/abstract and full-text screening, by two independent reviewers, identified eligible articles. Inclusion criteria included qualitative studies in hospital settings that reported perceptions regarding the roles of hospital pharmacists held by non-pharmacist health professionals. Data were extracted using a standardised extraction tool. Collated qualitative data underwent inductive thematic analysis by two independent investigators to identify codes, which were reconciled and merged into over-arching themes through a consensus process. Findings were assessed to measure confidence using the GRADE-CERQual criteria. Results: The search resulted in 14,718 hits. After removing duplicates, 10,551 studies underwent title/abstract screening. Of these, 515 underwent full-text review, and 36 were included for analysis. Most studies included perceptions held by medical or nursing staff. Hospital pharmacists were perceived as valuable, competent and supportive. At an organisational level, the roles of hospital pharmacists were perceived to benefit hospital workflow and improve patient safety. Roles contributing to all four domains of the World Health Organization's Strategic Framework of the Global Patient Safety Challenge were recognised. Highly-valued roles include medication reviews, provision of drug information, and education for health professionals. Conclusion: This review describes the roles hospital pharmacists performed within the interprofessional team, as reported by non-pharmacist health professionals internationally. Multidisciplinary perceptions and expectations of these roles may guide the prioritisation and optimisation of hospital pharmacy services.