What Obstructs Health Policy Implementation? A Multi-Method Qualitative Case Study of the Delayed Deployment of Community Pharmacies in Ireland's National Covid-19 Vaccination Programme
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4703246 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Aaron Koay (0000-0002-9165-9171, Trinity College Dublin, corresponding author), Camilla Devitt (0000-0002-7210-3389, Trinity College Dublin) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 35 |
| Issue | 13 |
| Pages | 1464-1480 |
| Publication date | 2024-12-12 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Qualitative Health Research (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1049-7323 • E-ISSN: 1552-7557 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/10497323241302239 |
| PMID | 39668505 |
| OpenAlex | W4405384364 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 79 |
During the COVID-19 pandemic, there were months of delay in deploying community pharmacies for the National COVID-19 Vaccination Programme in Ireland. We aimed to explore what may have accounted for this delay between 15th December 2020 (publication of policies) and 14th June 2021 (commencement of community pharmacy-based vaccination). We carried out a multi-method qualitative case study that involved engaging with 11 stakeholders, reviewing 246 documents, and conducting semi-structured interviews with 11 policy elites. Using reflexive thematic analysis, we developed three themes. The first provides evidence that the delay was, in part, due to operational barriers related to the logistical and safety aspects of the Programme. The second, on the other hand, presents a perspective that the delay was unreasonable as it was based on perceived deficits in community pharmacies. Finally, the third highlights the inability of the pharmacy profession to influence health policy due to a lack of strategic and cohesive leadership and the dominance of the medical profession. Overall, we argue that the delay can be explained by a complex interplay between technical, socio-political, institutional, and regulatory factors, underpinned by a chronic lack of strategic direction for pharmacy in the Irish health system
Irish · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Qualitative research · Reflexivity · Sociology · Thematic analysis · Global Public Health Policies and Epidemiology · Healthcare Systems and Challenges · Medicine · Nursing · Primary Care and Health Outcomes · Pharmacy
Building the Field of Health Policy and Systems Research
Generation of political priority for global health initiatives
Policy failure and the policy-implementation gap
Prediction and prevention of the next pandemic zoonosis
Qualitative research and its place in psychological science.
Health systems resilience in managing the Covid-19 pandemic
Building the Field of Health Policy and Systems Research
Case Study Research
Thematic Analysis
Agendas, alternatives, and public policies
Public Choices and Policy Change
How Institutions Evolve
Italian responses to the Covid-19 emergency
Power
The emergence of political priority for safe motherhood in Honduras
Solidarity or dissonance? A systematic review of pharmacist and GP views on community pharmacy services in the UK
Doctors and the state
Addressing the theoretical, practical and ethical challenges inherent in prospective health policy analysis
Mapping the existing body of health policy implementation research in lower income settings
Beyond financial constraints
Portuguese healthcare reforms in the context of crisis
Organizational Restructuring in European Health Systems
Community pharmacists’ knowledge, beliefs and attitudes towards immunization in Quebec
A Realist Theory of Science
The New Politics of the Welfare State
"The Science of "Muddling Through
Institutions, Veto Points, and Policy Results
Path Dependency, or Why History Makes It Difficult but Not Impossible to Reform Health Care Systems in a Big Way
Moving policy implementation theory forward
Research on Policy Implementation
Doing' health policy analysis
Sample Size in Qualitative Interview Studies
| Citations per year | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |