Health professionals' and consumers' views on the role of the pharmacy personnel and the pharmacy service in Hanoi, Vietnam - a qualitative study

Abstract

Objectives: To explore the views of health professionals and consumers concerning (i) the role of the pharmacy personnel and (ii) the pharmacy service in Hanoi, Vietnam. Method: A qualitative approach influenced by both content analysis and phenomenography was used. The different groups of participants were selected by purposive sampling, whereas the representatives from each group were selected based on availability. Data were collected by means of face‐to‐face interviews. Pre‐tested, semi‐structured interview guides were used. The interviews were tape‐recorded and transcribed. The analysis followed commonly applied procedures in qualitative research. The views of the respondents were categorized and described concerning the main issues. Results: A total of 21 interviews were conducted with six pharmacists, five medical doctors, five pharmacy students and five pharmacy customers. An interpreter was used in 16 cases. The role of the pharmacy personnel was viewed in three different ways, as: counsellor, doctor's assistant or businessman. It was also believed that sometimes the pharmacy personnel might play a double role – both as doctor and pharmacist. They were considered to have a passive or active role in the provision of information to the customers. Some of the subjects put emphasis on the quality of the information given, and some others considered the information given at the pharmacies as merely a reiteration of the doctor's instruction. Concerning the pharmaceutical field in general, three different categories could be discerned, which describe the interviewee's perspective on the main actors influencing pharmacy practice: a mutual, a central and an individual perspective. Conclusion: This study describes different ways of viewing the role of the pharmacy personnel and the pharmacy service in Hanoi. The estimation of the impact of the different views on the pharmacy profession in Hanoi requires another kind of study.