Multidisciplinary models of organising and providing care have been proposed to decrease the health services gap between urban and rural populations but health workforce shortages exist across most professions and are further exacerbated by maldistribution.  Flexibility and expansion of the range of tasks that a health professional can undertake were proposed.  Dispensing doctors (DDs) are such an example.  As part of DDs’ routine medical practice, DDs are able to both prescribe and dispense medicines to their patients.  The granting of a dispensing licence to a doctor is intended to improve rural community access to medicines where there is no pharmacy within a reasonable distance.

An iterative, qualitative descriptive methodology was used to identify factors which influenced DDs’ practice.  Qualitative data were collected by in-depth face-to-face and telephone interviews with DDs.  A combination of processes: qualitative content analysis and constant comparison were used to analyse the interview transcripts thematically.  Member checking and separate coding were utilised to ensure rigour.

Thirty-one interviews were conducted.  The respondents universally acknowledged that the main reason for dispensing were for the convenience and benefits of their patients and to ensure continuity of care.  DDs’ communities were generally more isolated and smaller when compared to their non-dispensing counterparts.  DD-respondents viewed their dispensary as a service to the community.  Peer pressure on prescribing was a key factors in self-regulating prescribing and dispensing.

DDs fulfil an important area of unmet needs by providing continuity of pharmaceutical care but the practice is hindered by significant barriers.