The Patient Perspectives of Clinical Pharmacist Services in Hospitals and Clinics: A Focused Narrative Review of Qualitative Studies

Patient perspectives are highly important to ensure optimal patient care in hospitals or primary care settings. Clinical pharmacy services, in which clinical pharmacists provide direct patient care, are a relatively recent addition to healthcare and are increasing in scope and availability. In this focused narrative review, relevant qualitative studies describing patients' perspectives after the integration of clinical pharmacists into healthcare services were included. Patients described predominantly positive feedback, presented as facilitators. The facilitators described in studies were that patients felt safe, experienced clear communication and collaboration with pharmacists, increased their knowledge of medications, and appreciated pharmacists' time and availability. Occasionally, patients described challenges with the pharmacist or service, presented as barriers. The barriers were that patients were unfamiliar with the clinical pharmacists' role and services, lacked trust or experienced conflicting information, experienced a lack of patient-centredness, and some disagreed or had challenges with elements of the intervention. In conclusion, most perspectives represented positive facilitators that should be kept and protected in the future, with some barriers that can be overcome in the future for optimal patient care and development of clinical pharmacy services.