The interviewer who introduced himself as a researcher asked two questions about the period over which the participants had been practising pharmacy and the way they describe what a pharmacist does. Responses were categorised into three categories: patient-centred, product-focused and ambiguous. Word-cloud analysis was used to assess the use of patient-care-related terms. Key findings  Of the responses from community pharmacists in Alberta, 29% were categorised as patient-centred, 45% as product-focused and 26% as ambiguous. In Northern Ireland, 40% of the community pharmacists’ responses were categorised as patient-centred, 39% as product-focused

and 21% as ambiguous. Community pharmacists in Northern Ireland provided more patient-centred responses than community pharmacists in Alberta (P = 0.013). The word-cloud analysis showed that ‘medicine’ and www.selleckchem.com/products/Vorinostat-saha.html ‘dispense’ were the most frequently reported terms. It also highlighted a relative lack selleck chemical of patient-care-related terms.

Conclusions  The findings of the present study are suggestive of some movement towards patient-centredness; however, product-focused practice still predominates within the pharmacy profession in Alberta and Northern Ireland. The relative lack of patient-care-related terms suggests that patient care is still not the first priority for pharmacists in both Alberta and Northern Ireland. Through patient-centred these interventions, pharmacists have demonstrated a positive impact on patient outcomes in a range of different settings. In community settings, it has been clearly demonstrated that community pharmacists can deliver effective services in smoking cessation, and in blood pressure, blood sugar and blood cholesterol

screening and monitoring.[1–5] Community pharmacists can also provide effective interventions (i.e. assessment, goal setting, monitoring and review) to asthma patients.[6] It has also been shown that community pharmacists can improve the quality of repeat dispensing[7] and provide effective medicine management services.[8] Based on the evidence from the literature that pharmacists can deliver effective interventions in different diseases,[1–8] organisations from around the world are now calling on pharmacists to transition from their focus on drug products to concentrate more on a patient-centred role (improving patient outcomes).[9] For instance, the World Health Organization reported that the main role for a pharmacist is to provide care;[10] the Department of Health in the UK is encouraging pharmacists to take on more patient-centred roles;[11,12] and the Canadian Pharmacists Association has articulated the vision of pharmacy as: ‘optimal drug therapy outcomes for Canadians through patient-centred care’.[13] Also, contemporary pharmacy courses are increasingly focusing on the patient-centred role of pharmacists.