‘I can contribute so much more but you have to untie my hands’ – a qualitative study of COVID-19 pandemic impacts on community pharmacist practice: lessons and future directions

AIM: The aim of our study was to understand how routine pharmacy practice was impacted during the COVID-19 pandemic and the consequences for patient access. BACKGROUND: Community pharmacists are among the most accessible primary care providers, playing a vital role in primary care access for patients. During the COVID-19 pandemic, community pharmacists took on numerous additional roles to support safe primary care access. As health systems are in the latter stages of recovery from the pandemic, understanding how the pandemic impacted routine community pharmacy practice and the repercussions for post-pandemic practice is important. METHODS: Between September 2020 and January 2021, we interviewed 11 pharmacists working in community pharmacies in Nova Scotia, Canada. We thematically analyzed qualitative data pertaining to pharmacists' perceptions of pandemic impacts on providers, patients, and pharmacy practice. FINDINGS: The COVID-19 pandemic greatly impacted community pharmacy practice, patients, and community pharmacists. Participants recommended maintaining some of the community pharmacy practice changes and suggested that continuing to expand the scope of practice for pharmacists is essential to meeting population health needs moving forward. Pharmacists recognize and are willing to maintain the essential roles they have assumed in facilitating patient access to primary care. Decision-makers should consider providing the necessary supports (e.g., communication software) and funding support to enable the full scope of community pharmacist practice.