ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: With the necessary skills available to community pharmacists, they are well equipped to relieve pressure on hospitals and general practices by providing referral services for symptomatic patients for COVID-19 testing. OBJECTIVE: The assessment of potential barriers that limit the successful implementation of a community pharmacy referral service for patients with suspected COVID-19 symptoms. METHODS: A questionnaire comprising of 100 questions was administered to one pharmacist by interview in 1023 working community pharmacies in 4 regions of Egypt between May 17 and May 30th 2020. RESULTS: Forty-five barriers were identified. Respondents (79%, n = 803) had difficulty obtaining an accurate patient history. Patient data confidentiality was a significant issue for pharmacists who had not received referral training, with these respondents being significantly (P = .010) less able to differentiate between COVID-19 and similar conditions. Respondents (68.8%, n = 698) were not confident in determining whether COVID-19 was the cause of the patient's presenting symptoms. A large majority (73.7%, n = 747) of respondents were worried about referring misdiagnosed patients and were concerned about the negative implications of proceeding with such a referral, including legal consequences. Of Respondents (71.7%, n = 727) reported that online referral was not easy, and 71.6% (n = 722) were unable to locate paper referral forms. Only a small number of pharmacists (11%, n = 112) preferred to report a referral in their own name. CONCLUSIONS: This study has demonstrated the potential of the community pharmacist's role as a point of referral for COVID-19 testing, and identified some major barriers to implementation of this. The lack of pharmacists' education, legal support, availability of referral forms, clarity of responsibility and unsupportive management teams are key obstacles that must be overcome for the successful implementation of a COVID-19 referral service.
ABSTRACT
Pharmacies have been practicing innovative infection control measures during COVID-19. This article seeks to explore the current activities undertaken across various community pharmacy settings in relation to the safety of the workplace environment for staff and patients. METHODS: An online cross-sectional survey was conducted in Australia during the COVID-19 outbreak from 1st to 30th April 2020, addressing community pharmacist's awareness and response to infection and sanitation control. RESULTS: A total of 137 pharmacists took part in the survey. Regular cleaning took place in the pharmacy, but the use of gloves while cleaning was not regularly practice (48.18%). In addition, only 46.72% of respondents reported observing script baskets being cleaned and disinfected. About one-third (37.96%) of pharmacists were aware of the two-step cleaning and disinfecting process, with only 18.98% of pharmacist practicing such cleaning procedures. More than half of surveyed pharmacists reported having difficulty keeping up with pharmacy practice and infection control guidelines during the pandemic. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates that the majority of pharmacists are not fully aware of the proper infection control measures needed in a community pharmacy setting. Pharmacists must play a bigger role in infection control measures to ensure staff and public health safety.