title: Physicians' Practice of Dispensing Medicines: A Qualitative Study.
abstract: The physical act of giving medication to patients to administer away from a health care setting, dispensing, is normally performed by pharmacists. Dispensing of medication by physicians is a neglected patient safety issue, and having observed considerable variation in practice, the lead author sought to explore this issue further. A literature review yielded zero articles pertaining to this, so an exploratory study was commenced. The qualitative arm, relating to junior physicians' experience of, and training in, dispensing, is reported here.
  
  
  
  Focus groups were conducted to explore the beliefs, ideas, and experiences of physicians-in-training pertaining to dispensing of medication. These were recorded and transcribed. The transcriptions were thematically analyzed using the grounded theory.
  
  
  
  The emergency department was the most common site of dispensing. No formal training in dispensing had been received. Informal training was variable in content and utility. The physicians felt that dispensing was part of their role.
  
  
  
  Despite being expected to dispense, and the patient safety issues involved in giving drugs to patients to use at home, physicians do not feel that they have been trained to undertake this task. These findings from 1 hospital raise questions about the wider quality and safety of this practice.
authors.affiliation: From the *Department of Urology, Salford Royal Hospital; †Faculty of Health and Social Care, University of Salford, Salford; ‡Department of Paediatrics, Blackpool Victoria Hospital, Blackpool; §North Western Postgraduate Deanery, Manchester; and ∥Emergency Department, Royal Bolton Hospital, Bolton, UK.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Darbyshire
authors.forename: Morris
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gordon
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Baker
authors.forename: Damian
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bates
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Agius
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D004501:Education, Medical; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D006761:Hospitals; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D061214:Patient Safety; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations; D010595:Pharmacists; D010820:Physicians; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D024382:Professional Role; D036301:Qualitative Research
chemical_list: D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations