Speaking exclusively to C+D after his session at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society's annual conference in Birmingham last week (September 4), Matthew Boyd, researcher at the University of Nottingham, said the induction process for practice pharmacists “does take time”, as they have to get used to different IT systems.

“The knowledge gaps are generally around how things work,” Professor Boyd said. “A lot of it is localised stuff, that you would normally get when you go into any job. But there is quite a lot of it [in primary care].”

Pharmacists are moving from “community or hospital computer systems, and into primary care”, he explained. “They are very different.”

Professor Boyd used his session at the conference to present the evaluation of the GP pharmacy transformation pilot, which was rolled out to six sites in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire over 18 months.

The pilot aimed to “test whether the quality” of new models of care could be improved by using community pharmacy independent prescribers to help co-manage patients with long-term conditions and urgent care needs.

“There were a number of companies involved in this study. [Employing a practice pharmacist] worked very well for them,” Professor Boyd told C+D.

Are you a pre-registration or newly qualified pharmacist considering which sector to move into? Then sign up here to C+D's free careers event next Thursday (September 21), to hear from pharmacists from a range of sectors, including community, GP practices, care homes, academia and more.