The standards of practice for delivery of polypharmacy and chronic disease medication reviews by general practice clinical pharmacists.

The new general practice contract in Scotland includes a pharmacotherapy service to be delivered by general practice clinical pharmacists (GPCPs). However, consensus is lacking regarding the standards of practice for delivery of pharmacotherapy medication reviews. This study identified and validated standards of practice for polypharmacy and chronic disease medication reviews conducted by GPCPs. In phase 1 of the study, an expert group of 4 GPCPs and 2 clinical pharmacist managers responsible for delivering the pharmacotherapy service was tasked with generating potential standards. In phase 2, a 2-round Delphi survey of 159 GPCPs with at least 1 year of experience in general practice was undertaken. The expert group identified 44 potential standards of practice for polypharmacy and chronic disease reviews, and the practising GPCPs confirmed that the standards were applicable to practice. The standards of practice covered 7 main categories: skills, knowledge, process, environment, qualifications, qualities and behaviours, and experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]