The practice pharmacist Cabozantinib mouse may be akin to a clinical pharmacist working within a hospital setting, performing a combination of clinical, administrative and medication safety duties, but tailored to the primary-care setting. Others perceived it as an extension of the current consultant pharmacist role, with a greater focus on medication review and education. Overall, it appeared that the role would

be multifaceted, with different models and scopes of practice suiting different clinics, depending on the nature and needs of the individual practice. The barriers to and facilitators for integration are consistent with the international literature.[21, 24] Slow uptake by GPs and other operational challenges were similarly mentioned. Some GP participants expressed their concerns with introducing yet another member into their practice without adequate evidence of need, and GPs in our study explained this in light of the slow initial uptake of practice nurses into Australian general practices. Local evidence was preferred by GPs to support this new role. Although Australian evidence is sparse, new research is emerging focusing on inter-professional collaboration between GPs and pharmacists[25] and the co-location of pharmacists in general practices.[26] Some participants felt GPs may feel threatened Angiogenesis inhibitor by this new role, an opinion shared by

GPs in international studies.[14, 22] The reluctance to allow pharmacists to be more involved may be the result of a poor understanding of their training, a barrier mentioned by some participants and

elicited from other studies.[27] This highlights the need for inter-professional education and the development of collaborative working relationships. A variety of funding models were suggested, including models specific to the current Australian healthcare setting such as government subsidised programmes. This includedreimbursement for pharmacists as part of existing MBS primary-care items such as Chronic Disease Management (CDM) items like team care arrangements (TCAs). Using and building on current HMR funding may be viable depending not on the pharmacist’s role. These potential funding mechanisms are advantageous within the Australian context given their existence for other health professionals.[28] Alternatively, salaries, which practice pharmacists overseas commonly receive, could be implemented similarly to how practice nurses and other allied health staff are currently remunerated in Australian general practice.[29] Previous studies have highlighted the reluctance of some GPs to allow pharmacists to access patient medical records, most feeling patient confidentiality would be compromised.[14, 22] The majority of participants in our study, however, felt that full access to patient medical records was a necessity for the pharmacist in order to provide optimal care.