Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32133139›Full record

ArticleEuropean journal of hospital pharmacy : science and practice2020

The impact of implementing a pharmacy technician role as part of a nursing team in an acute admissions unit.

Nabil El-Fahimi, Michelle Dube, Kyle Savage, Paul Elsender, Colin Costello, Wendy Rojas, Miguel Angel Calleja

Open access · greenAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in European journal of hospital pharmacy : science and practice, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
0.3field-weighted citation impact, top 38% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 3 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Roles and impact of pharmacy technicians on hospital wards: a systematic review.International journal of nursing studies advances · 2026
    Review
  2. Safe Staffing Standards for Pharmacy Technicians in Hospital Settings.Journal of market access & health policy · 2025
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Description of Position Ads for Pharmacy Technicians.Pharmacy (Basel, Switzerland) · 2020
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Nabil El-FahimiPharmacy, United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust, Lincoln, UK.
Michelle DubePharmacy, United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust, Lincoln, UK.
Kyle SavageAcute Admissions Unit, United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust, Lincoln, UK.
Paul ElsenderPharmacy, United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust, Lincoln, UK.
Colin CostelloPharmacy, United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust, Lincoln, UK.
Wendy RojasMedical Emergency Admissions Unit, United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust, Lincoln, UK.
Miguel Angel CallejaPharmacy, Universitary Hospital Virgen de las Nieves, Granada, Spain.
United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust · GBHospital Universitario Virgen de las Nieves · ES

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: The National Patient Safety Agency reported over 20 000 safety incidents over a 3-year period, including 68 severe harms and 27 deaths. Dose delays and omissions persistently contributed to more than 50% of the reported incidents. Methods: A pilot was designed and data were collected before and after to measure how these ward-based technician roles affected the reporting of omitted or delayed doses, time efficiency, cost implications and the general productivity of the ward. Results: Three months after the start of the pilot, omitted doses were reduced from 14% to 5% and no incidents of harm had been reported. The 'perfect medication ward round' with no interruptions lasted 23 min compared with the longest medication ward round which lasted 116 min and was interrupted 11 times. Conclusions: The pilot shows that the introduction of pharmacy technicians results in fewer omitted doses and also addresses persistent staffing issues by ensuring better use of nursing time.

Indexed as

Professional RoleHumansMedication ErrorsNursing, TeamPharmacy Service, HospitalPharmacy TechniciansPilot ProjectsWorkforcedrug administrationpatient safetypharmacytechnicianward-based

Identifiers

PMID32133139
PMCPMC7043248
OpenAlexW2922018218

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.