Conclusion
This report demonstrates that the CPWC is a validated tool for
determining clinical pharmacy staffing requirements for medical and
surgical inpatients in acute hospitals. We would further contend that it
has demonstrated the four criteria of an acceptable staffing calculator,
namely that it is simple to operate, adaptable to changing service
delivery models, seen as valid by experts and its outputs accepted and
understood by non-clinicians [11]. The methodology adopted to
develop the CPWC is transferable to other settings and is a practical
approach to addressing the issue of staffing levels for pharmacy
practice internationally.
The process of validating the CPWC has generated a consensus-based
description of the full scope of clinical pharmacy activities required
to deliver pharmaceutical care to hospital in-patients and, therefore,
sets a benchmark for future comparison. The CPWC does not identify
‘safe’ staffing levels, as that was not within the scope of this study.
However, there is evidence from the literature that delivery of these
tasks is associated with improved patient safety. Whilst not disputing
that unwarranted variations exist in the delivery of healthcare within
the UK, among other countries, the results of this study suggest the
variation in pharmacy service provision is probably not located at what
hospital pharmacy managers consider the fundamental principles of
pharmaceutical care to be, but rather on how to deliver this care within
the actual staff resource available.