Objective: This study aims to explore experiences, barriers and enabling factors during an antidepressant counselling study as well as to explore future initiatives.

Setting: 11 Flemish psychiatric hospitals.

Method: Focus group discussions were organised.  Pharmacists who could not be present at a focus group discussion answered the questions of the interview guide on paper.  The focus group discussions were tape recorded, verbatim transcribed and analysed using NVivo7-software applying a framework approach.

Main Outcome Measure: Evaluation of barriers, enabling factors, and negative and positive experiences during the study.  Suggestions for future initiatives.

Results: For experiences, barriers and enabling factors, five categories were identified: individual patient contacts, interdisciplinary contacts, hospital management, study performance and study support.  There were differences in culture between hospitals on how they appreciated the role of the clinical pharmacist.  A major difference between hospitals was interdisciplinary relations.  Negative experiences and barriers were: the absence of openness for a role for the pharmacist in the team, difficult interdisciplinary communication, the uncertainty about the time of discharge, the need of patients to tell their story and the timing of the intervention.  Positive experiences and enabling factors included the individual focus of the intervention, the position of the pharmacist as a reliable health care professional, the pharmacist as the key person in this study, the integration of the pharmacist in the team, the gained knowledge and skills of the pharmacist and the professional study support.  Future initiatives depend upon human and other resources.  There is a demand for more information by the patient. A more structured way of working is necessary.  The provision of medication information can be performed at different points in time using different formats.

Conclusions: Participation in a clinical pharmacy study was well appreciated by the pharmacists.  Future initiatives were welcomed if they remain feasible within actual job responsibilities.