Women’s perspectives of community pharmacists’ resupplying and prescribing contraceptive methods

BACKGROUND: Australia has commenced implementing the resupply and prescribing of contraception by community pharmacists. This is to improve equitable opportunities when accessing contraceptive methods in community pharmacy settings. The aim of this study was to investigate women participants' acceptability of the resupply and prescribing of hormonal contraceptive by community pharmacists. METHODS: Participants (n = 22) were women who had visited the pharmacy for the emergency contraceptive pill or with a prescription for medical abortion medicines, and were recruited to this study using convenience sampling. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to understand participants' perspectives on hormonal contraceptive resupply and prescribing by community pharmacists. RESULTS: Participants endorsed the acceptability of the resupply service by highlighting its benefits including: convenience, cost-effectiveness, time-effectiveness, improved access and a reliable alternative when it is not possible to see a general practitioner (GP). Participants also acknowledged the value of GPs initially prescribing contraceptive methods, particularly due to pharmacists' lack of access to comprehensive medical histories. Participant confidence in pharmacist prescribing of contraceptive methods was low. However, they were more inclined to support pharmacist prescribing of contraceptive methods if they knew that they had received appropriate upskilling and training, especially in the case where a contraceptive method was being prescribed for the first time. CONCLUSION: Although pharmacist-led resupply is seen as an acceptable service, ongoing research is needed to explore its sustainability, feasibility and long-term impact on patient outcomes. Further research is required to understand the acceptability of autonomous pharmacist prescribing.