Chronic disease prevention in deprived communities: a qualitative study with community pharmacists

Background Increasing demand for General Practice (GP) services has led to new ways of working being explored to ease pressures on healthcare access. Community pharmacists (CPs) play a key role to help with this and can deliver disease prevention interventions. Aims To explore the views of CP’s, serving communities/neighbourhoods experiencing high levels of socioeconomic disadvantage and ill-health on taking a role in the prevention of chronic disease. Design & setting Three areas in England (North-East and North Cumbria, Greater Manchester and Sheffield) Method Semi-structured interviews with 16 CPs. These were transcribed and analysed in accordance with the principles of reflexive thematic analysis. Themes were identified, discussed and agreed. Results Key themes identified included: time and financial pressures, integration of services and communication, and training and confidence. While CPs were positive about expanding their role and believed that the requisite trust was established with their community. There were significant reservations about taking on new roles without appropriate training and remuneration. Practical issues around communication with GPs, access to patient records and having the time to perform new duties were highlighted. Conclusions CPs serving deprived populations see themselves as being well positioned to contribute to chronic disease prevention. Realising this potential requires systematic change. Significant barriers have been identified that reflect the complexity of serving deprived communities. Without addressing these structural barriers, expanding pharmacy roles risks creating unsustainable expectations and potentially widening health inequalities. The development of a Deep End pharmacy network could provide a platform to collectively explore these challenges.