Allocation and prioritization of hospital pharmacist clinical services in British Columbia

Background: Clinical pharmacists are a limited resource in British Columbia (BC). Few studies have been conducted to explore hospital clinical pharmacist allocation. It is unclear how pharmacy leaders prioritize the allocation of their pharmacist staff to provide clinical services at their sites. Objectives: To characterize how hospital pharmacy leaders allocate their pharmacists within their sites. Methods: This qualitative study used key informant interviews of hospital pharmacy leaders in BC, Canada. Seven questions were included in the interview guide, asking participants about their philosophy for organizing clinical pharmacist coverage, exploring the adequacy of current staff levels, asking about barriers and enablers, and looking at the use of quality assurance mechanisms. Results: Sixteen participants were interviewed. The data yielded five themes: clinical staff allocation, barriers to providing optimal pharmacy services, clinical work prioritization, staff training and recruitment, and quality assurance. Conclusions: Pharmacy leaders in BC consider a variety of factors in allocating their clinical staff. While funding is an important factor in human resource allocation, even with adequate funding, there is a lack of adequately trained staff to fill available positions. Future exploration is needed to determine the best method of pharmacist allocation in relation to patient outcomes and to identify novel ways to support training of clinical pharmacists.