The audit of drug use against established guidelines is a field of increasing interest in the pursuit of the efficient and effective use of medicines both in the community and in hospital. Recent projects have been directed towards antibiotic use in hospital and asthma management in the community. The application of audit methods to pharmacy service evaluation is a key requirement for the development of pharmaceutical care. Recent projects in this field have examined services to residential homes for the elderly and have developed methods for grading clinical pharmacy services to hospital inpatients. The opportunities for Pharmacy Practice Research are many and varied.
Research often forms the basis for securing practice development.
This feature means that the activities of the Pharmacy Practice Research Group are orientated to the needs of patients and linked to the provision of services.