What patient assessment skills do pharmacist independent prescribers require to prescribe immunomodulators in myeloma?

Aim: To gain consensus on the patient assessment skills required by pharmacist independent prescribers prescribing immunomodulators in myeloma across National Health Service Scotland.

Methods: This was a two-phase study which used nominal group technique to gain local consensus followed by a two-round eDelphi questionnaire to gain national consensus across all cancer networks.

Setting: This project was conducted across the three cancer networks within NHS Scotland: South East Scotland Cancer Network; West of Scotland Cancer Network and North Cancer Alliance.

Subjects: Participants were invited from each cancer network (South East Scotland Cancer Network, West of Scotland Cancer Network and North Cancer Alliance) and included haematology consultants, haematology specialist registrars, haematology advanced nurse practitioners and haematology pharmacists.

Results: There were five participants in the nominal group technique. Twenty-two out of 31 patient assessment skills gained local consensus, seven patient assessment skills did not gain consensus and two patient assessment skills were deemed irrelevant. There were 12 and 14 participants in round one and two of the eDelphi questionnaire, respectively. Twenty-nine patient assessment skills were included in the first-round questionnaire and 21 gained consensus. The remaining eight patient assessment skills were included in round two where seven did not achieve consensus and one achieved disagreement consensus.

Conclusion: This research outlines 21 patient assessment skills required for pharmacist independent prescribers to prescribe immunomodulators for myeloma patients according to haematology specialists in Scotland. Discussion on patient assessment skills without consensus showed that the pharmacist independent prescribers would have a shared responsibility with the consultant. This work should inform the development of a competency framework to allow training of pharmacist independent prescribers in Scotland. Some patient assessment skills could be transferrable for pharmacist independent prescribers prescribing systemic anti-cancer therapy for other haematological malignancies.