Effet du projet OCTAVE sur les relations interprofessionnelles entre médecins généralistes et pharmaciens d’officine : une étude qualitative.

Introduction: The aim of the OCTAVE project, carried out in healthcare territories in Bretagne and Pays-de-Loire, is to improve the safety of the medication use for elderly people during and after hospitalization. In particular, this involves the completion of a shared medication review by the patient's referring community pharmacist after discharge from hospital, which is then sent to the patient's general practitioner. Communication between these two healthcare professionals is therefore essential to the smooth operation of the project, but is difficult to assess in practice.

Aim of the study: To assess the impact of the OCTAVE project on interprofessional relations between general practitioners and community pharmacists at the end of their patient's path through OCTAVE.

Method: In this qualitative study, 15 semi-structured interviews were conducted between June 2023 and January 2024 with pharmacists and general practitioners in Ille-et-Vilaine, one of whose patients had been included in OCTAVE.

Results: Despite identified needs and a shared desire to limit drug-related side effects among their elderly patients, the OCTAVE project has not led professionals to communicate more with each other. However, community pharmacists took advantage of the project to assert and promote their new missions, which include shared medication reviews. But the lack of information and investment from GPs, as well as the perception of each profession of their own roles, was a clear barrier to stronger cooperation.

Conclusion: OCTAVE has had no direct impact on relations between community pharmacists and general practitioners. Areas for improvement were identified.