Int J Pharm Pract 1999;7:149-58

Division of General Practice, School of Community Health Sciences, The Medical School, Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham, England NG7 2UH
Rajiv N. Reebye, BScPharm, RPh, research pharmacist
Anthony J. Avery, DM, MRCGP, senior lecturer

Division of General Practice and Social Medicine, University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Wil J. H. M. van den Bosch, MD, PhD, professor
Akke van der Bij, MSc, epidemiologist

School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Nottingham
Mohamed Aslam, PhD, FRPharmS, senior lecturer

Pharmacist Batouwe Apotheek, Elst, The Netherlands
Almar Nijholt, PharmD, head pharmacist

Correspondence: Dr Avery tony.avery@nottingham.ac.uk

Original Papers

Exploring community pharmacists' perceptions of their professional relationships with physicians, in Canada and the Netherlands

RAJIV N. REEBYE, ANTHONY J. AVERY, WIL J. H. M. VAN DEN BOSCH, MOHAMED ASLAM, ALMAR NIJHOLT and AKKE VAN DER BIJ

Objective - To explore community pharmacists' levels of interaction with, and perceptions of, physicians in primary care in Canada and the Netherlands.
Method - Interviews with community pharmacists.
Setting - Thirty-six community pharmacies in Vancouver, Canada, and 36 in the Nijmegen and Arnhem areas of the Netherlands.
Key findings - Dutch pharmacists were more likely to have " face-to-face contacts with the physician in the pharmacy setting" (P=0.008) and structured professional meetings with physicians (P<0.001). Canadian pharmacists were more likely to agree that " interaction with physicians is mainly limited to phone/fax" (P<0.001) and " the concept of pharmaceutical care is difficult to implement" (P=0.006). Qualitative analysis revealed that in both countries pharmacists had concerns about the attitudes of physicians and issues concerning territoriality. There were also many constructive comments and these enabled consideration of actions to enhance patient care.
Conclusion - The findings of the study suggest four areas which could contribute to improved patient care: (1) Increasing levels of professional interaction; (2) developing a mutual understanding of roles; (3) participating in joint initiatives to benefit patients through the extended role of pharmacists; (4) conducting structured meetings between professionals with an emphasis on the care of individual patients.