'It's all about patient safety': an ethnographic study of how pharmacy staff construct medicines safety in the context of polypharmacy.
Fudge N, Swinglehurst D. ‘It's all about patient safety’: an ethnographic study of how pharmacy staff construct medicines safety in the context of polypharmacy. BMJ Open. 2021;11(2):e042504. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2020-042504.
Polypharmacy – particularly in older adults – can increase the risk of adverse drug events. Based on an ethnographic case study of community pharmacies in England, the authors found that polypharmacy was a pervasive problem but rarely discussed as a safety concern and not actively challenged by pharmacy staff.