Continuation criteria which indicate whether to proceed with a randomised controlled trial (RCT)
| Proceed with RCT | Proceed with RCT following some changes to the protocol | Do not proceed with RCT unless problems can be overcome |
| Recruitment of 8 general practices | Recruitment of 6–7 general practices | Unable to recruit at least 6 general practices |
| Retention of ≥7 general practices throughout intervention period | Retention of 6 general practices throughout intervention period | Retention of ≤5 general practices throughout intervention period |
| Recruitment of 1 pharmacist | Recruitment of 1 pharmacist | Unable to recruit 1 pharmacist |
| Recruitment of 15 study patients from each practice | Recruitment of 10–<15 study patients from each practice | Recruitment of <10 study patients from each practice |
| Retention of >12 study patients for follow-up from each practice | Retention of 10–<12 study patients for follow-up from each practice | Retention of <10 study patients for follow-up from each practice |
| GPP intervention acceptable to majority of GPs, pharmacists and patients involved, as per process evaluation | GPP intervention acceptable to some GPs, pharmacists and patients involved, as per process evaluation | GPP intervention acceptable to none of the GPs, pharmacists and patients involved, as per process evaluation |
| Delivery of GPP intervention feasible | Delivery of GPP intervention partially feasible | Delivery of GPP intervention not feasible |
| GPP intervention demonstrates cost-effectiveness | GPP intervention demonstrates potential for cost-effectiveness | GPP intervention does not demonstrate potential for cost-effectiveness |
GPP, General Practice Pharmacist; GPs, general practitioners.