What is the current status of transplant pharmacy services in China? A nationwide cross-sectional survey

Background Pharmacists are vital to the multidisciplinary care for transplant patients, but the workforce of their work in China remains unclear.Objective To assess the current status of transplant pharmacists' work in China through a national workforce survey to evaluate service provision acro...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Xin Yu, Hui Yang, Fang Zeng, Pan Chen, Zhuoling An, Xiaopeng Hu, Kuifeng Ma, Xiangduan Liu, Qing Qian, Wenjing Hou, Guangzhao Wang, Rongrong Wang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMJ Publishing Group 2025-06-01
Series:BMJ Open
Online Access:https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/15/6/e093542.full
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849471583958073344
author Xin Yu
Hui Yang
Fang Zeng
Pan Chen
Zhuoling An
Xiaopeng Hu
Kuifeng Ma
Xiangduan Liu
Qing Qian
Wenjing Hou
Guangzhao Wang
Rongrong Wang
author_facet Xin Yu
Hui Yang
Fang Zeng
Pan Chen
Zhuoling An
Xiaopeng Hu
Kuifeng Ma
Xiangduan Liu
Qing Qian
Wenjing Hou
Guangzhao Wang
Rongrong Wang
author_sort Xin Yu
collection DOAJ
description Background Pharmacists are vital to the multidisciplinary care for transplant patients, but the workforce of their work in China remains unclear.Objective To assess the current status of transplant pharmacists' work in China through a national workforce survey to evaluate service provision across transplantation stages and pharmacist capacity.Design, setting and participants Nationwide cross-sectional questionnaire-based study (25 March–1 April 2024) involving 91 transplant centres performing>90% of China’s organ transplants.Main outcomes and measures Pharmacy items and duration provided to patients by pharmacists at each transplant centre and used to calculate full-time equivalents (FTEs).Results Service provision varied substantially across centres, with only 0.8 pharmacists per 100 transplant patients nationally. Current workforce require 2.6 FTEs/100 transplants for comprehensive services, reducible to 1.2 FTEs if non-clinical duties are excluded. Key challenges included service inconsistency, limited patient coverage and inadequate standardisation/digitalisation. Primary barriers were excessive non-service workloads and insufficient performance incentives. Addressing these issues is an effective way to change the current status of pharmacy services for transplant recipients in China.Conclusions A national workforce survey revealed significant gaps in transplant pharmacy services in China, particularly in standardisation and digitalisation. To address these issues, key steps include reducing non-essential workloads for transplant clinical pharmacists, enhancing performance incentives, expanding the number of transplant pharmacists and developing standardised service protocols.
format Article
id doaj-art-e69b3ae1121644cead943fe2f439a310
institution Kabale University
issn 2044-6055
language English
publishDate 2025-06-01
publisher BMJ Publishing Group
record_format Article
series BMJ Open
spelling doaj-art-e69b3ae1121644cead943fe2f439a3102025-08-20T03:24:47ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Open2044-60552025-06-0115610.1136/bmjopen-2024-093542What is the current status of transplant pharmacy services in China? A nationwide cross-sectional surveyXin Yu0Hui Yang1Fang Zeng2Pan Chen3Zhuoling An4Xiaopeng Hu5Kuifeng Ma6Xiangduan Liu7Qing Qian8Wenjing Hou9Guangzhao Wang10Rongrong Wang11Capital Medical University Beijing Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, Beijing, ChinaDepartment of Pharmacy, Beijing Chao-Yang Hospital Capital Medical University, Beijing, ChinaNational Alliance of Transplant Pharmacists, Zhejiang Hangzhou, ChinaNational Alliance of Transplant Pharmacists, Zhejiang Hangzhou, ChinaDepartment of Pharmacy, Beijing Chao-Yang Hospital Capital Medical University, Beijing, ChinaDepartment of Urology, Beijing Chao-Yang Hospital Capital Medical University, Beijing, ChinaNational Alliance of Transplant Pharmacists, Zhejiang Hangzhou, ChinaNational Alliance of Transplant Pharmacists, Zhejiang Hangzhou, ChinaNational Alliance of Transplant Pharmacists, Zhejiang Hangzhou, ChinaNational Alliance of Transplant Pharmacists, Zhejiang Hangzhou, ChinaNational Alliance of Transplant Pharmacists, Zhejiang Hangzhou, ChinaNational Alliance of Transplant Pharmacists, Zhejiang Hangzhou, ChinaBackground Pharmacists are vital to the multidisciplinary care for transplant patients, but the workforce of their work in China remains unclear.Objective To assess the current status of transplant pharmacists' work in China through a national workforce survey to evaluate service provision across transplantation stages and pharmacist capacity.Design, setting and participants Nationwide cross-sectional questionnaire-based study (25 March–1 April 2024) involving 91 transplant centres performing>90% of China’s organ transplants.Main outcomes and measures Pharmacy items and duration provided to patients by pharmacists at each transplant centre and used to calculate full-time equivalents (FTEs).Results Service provision varied substantially across centres, with only 0.8 pharmacists per 100 transplant patients nationally. Current workforce require 2.6 FTEs/100 transplants for comprehensive services, reducible to 1.2 FTEs if non-clinical duties are excluded. Key challenges included service inconsistency, limited patient coverage and inadequate standardisation/digitalisation. Primary barriers were excessive non-service workloads and insufficient performance incentives. Addressing these issues is an effective way to change the current status of pharmacy services for transplant recipients in China.Conclusions A national workforce survey revealed significant gaps in transplant pharmacy services in China, particularly in standardisation and digitalisation. To address these issues, key steps include reducing non-essential workloads for transplant clinical pharmacists, enhancing performance incentives, expanding the number of transplant pharmacists and developing standardised service protocols.https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/15/6/e093542.full
spellingShingle Xin Yu
Hui Yang
Fang Zeng
Pan Chen
Zhuoling An
Xiaopeng Hu
Kuifeng Ma
Xiangduan Liu
Qing Qian
Wenjing Hou
Guangzhao Wang
Rongrong Wang
What is the current status of transplant pharmacy services in China? A nationwide cross-sectional survey
BMJ Open
title What is the current status of transplant pharmacy services in China? A nationwide cross-sectional survey
title_full What is the current status of transplant pharmacy services in China? A nationwide cross-sectional survey
title_fullStr What is the current status of transplant pharmacy services in China? A nationwide cross-sectional survey
title_full_unstemmed What is the current status of transplant pharmacy services in China? A nationwide cross-sectional survey
title_short What is the current status of transplant pharmacy services in China? A nationwide cross-sectional survey
title_sort what is the current status of transplant pharmacy services in china a nationwide cross sectional survey
url https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/15/6/e093542.full
work_keys_str_mv AT xinyu whatisthecurrentstatusoftransplantpharmacyservicesinchinaanationwidecrosssectionalsurvey
AT huiyang whatisthecurrentstatusoftransplantpharmacyservicesinchinaanationwidecrosssectionalsurvey
AT fangzeng whatisthecurrentstatusoftransplantpharmacyservicesinchinaanationwidecrosssectionalsurvey
AT panchen whatisthecurrentstatusoftransplantpharmacyservicesinchinaanationwidecrosssectionalsurvey
AT zhuolingan whatisthecurrentstatusoftransplantpharmacyservicesinchinaanationwidecrosssectionalsurvey
AT xiaopenghu whatisthecurrentstatusoftransplantpharmacyservicesinchinaanationwidecrosssectionalsurvey
AT kuifengma whatisthecurrentstatusoftransplantpharmacyservicesinchinaanationwidecrosssectionalsurvey
AT xiangduanliu whatisthecurrentstatusoftransplantpharmacyservicesinchinaanationwidecrosssectionalsurvey
AT qingqian whatisthecurrentstatusoftransplantpharmacyservicesinchinaanationwidecrosssectionalsurvey
AT wenjinghou whatisthecurrentstatusoftransplantpharmacyservicesinchinaanationwidecrosssectionalsurvey
AT guangzhaowang whatisthecurrentstatusoftransplantpharmacyservicesinchinaanationwidecrosssectionalsurvey
AT rongrongwang whatisthecurrentstatusoftransplantpharmacyservicesinchinaanationwidecrosssectionalsurvey