Evaluating acceptability of the Inpatient Mental Health Pharmaceutical Assessment and Care Tool (IMPACT): A multi-site study in the United Kingdom.

The IMPACT tool was viewed as self-explanatory and effective by pharmacy staff across multiple NHS sites.

• Study conducted between October 2024 and February 2025 across five NHS organisations
• 12 pharmacists and 5 pharmacy technicians participated in the evaluation
• Participants retrospectively applied the IMPACT tool to patients they had provided pharmaceutical care to
• The tool was designed to assist pharmacy teams in identifying high risk patients for early intervention

Most participants were confident using the IMPACT tool, but some pharmacy technicians reported difficulties with clinical criteria.

• Difficulties reported by pharmacy technicians related to clinical criteria such as blood test interpretation
• These clinical tasks were not part of pharmacy technicians' usual duties
• The confidence gap was specifically noted between pharmacists and pharmacy technicians rather than being universal

Iterative modifications were made to the IMPACT tool following the first focus group and were well-received by subsequent participants.

• Changes included clarifying or combining some risk-indicators in the tool
• Four focus groups and one dual interview were conducted in total
• The Theoretical Framework of Acceptability guided the content and analysis of the focus groups
• Recommendations and insights from all participants assisted in improving the tool, resulting in a refined version

A qualitative iterative multi-site study design was used to evaluate the acceptability of the IMPACT tool.

• Pharmacy staff from five NHS organisations participated
• Participants completed a reflection sheet after applying the tool and then attended an online focus group
• Training was delivered to participants before initiating the study
• The Theoretical Framework of Acceptability guided study content and analysis

The study represents the first evaluation of the IMPACT tool and concluded it was acceptable to pharmacy team members.

• Overall acceptability was established across the participating pharmacy teams
• The evaluation used an iterative qualitative approach
• Future work was recommended to further explore the tool's feasibility and impact using mixed methods approaches
• The study involved both pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, representing different roles within pharmacy teams