Building and maintaining effective working relationships

Pharmacy type

Community

Pharmacy context

A busy city centre pharmacythat is open 365 days a year, including late into the evening. The pharmacy dispenses NHS and private prescriptions.It offers a number of services to support people in managing minor illnesses and long-term conditions. It also supplies medicines in multi-compartmentalmedicine packs to people who live in their own homes and to people inresidential care homes.

Relevant standards

• 2.1 - There are enough staff, suitably qualified and skilled, for the safe and effective provision of the pharmacy services provided
• 2.3 - Staff can comply with their own professional and legal obligations and are empowered to exercise their professional judgement in the best interests of patients and the public
• 2.4 - There is a culture of openness, honesty and learning

Why this is notable practice

The pharmacy team is supported and encouraged to act proactively for the benefit of patients, the public and other healthcare professionals. The pharmacy team is fully involved in improving the delivery of pharmacy services. Pharmacy team members are encouraged to draw on good practice and use innovative processes and technology to support them in delivering services.

How the pharmacy did this

The pharmacy had good staffing levels and it reviewed its skill-mix every six months to ensure it remained appropriate. Pharmacy technicians were appointed in the role of team leaders. They supported pharmacists in leading the pharmacy’s services. The pharmacy technicians led on aspects of patient safety and were responsible for ensuring their team kept up to date with learning and implementing risk reduction actions.

The pharmacy had a full range of senior business staff. This included an onsite IT manager who supported the pharmacy team in monitoring and reviewing its innovative dispensing technology, including the dispensing robot. Pharmacy team members had recently taken part in a training exercise to test the pharmacy’s business contingency plan.

The pharmacy took an active interest in monitoring the health services available within the city. It had taken on a new service to help meet the needs of people requiring wrist splints for carpal tunnel syndrome. It had also provided designated consultation spaces for people to access health services provided by other healthcare organisations.

Pharmacy team members met weekly to discuss patient safety and to share learning following incidents. The pharmacy made minutes of these meetings. They were displayed on a notice board and emailed to each member of staff.

Pharmacy team members were competent in demonstrating the risk reduction tools used to inform the safe delivery of its services. These included sales of medicines and safeguarding guides at till points, formal monitoring sheets for recording details of all CD discrepancies, personalised records for monitoring attendance and recording interventions for people accessing the pharmacy’s substance misuse service and near-miss records in all areas of the pharmacy, including a record for the pharmacy’s prescription delivery service.

The pharmacy’s operations manager produced a monthly newsletter. It contained important information for staff such as service updates and learning. For example, a recent edition had focussed on Parkinson’s disease. Information from professional bodies and the GPhC was shared with staff. Guidance to support best practice and safety in the pharmacy was contained within the pharmacy’s procedure folder.

What difference this made to patients

The pharmacy has put provisions in place to ensure people can access healthcare services with ease. It works collaboratively with other healthcare organisations by identifying and developing new services to meet people’s healthcare needs. The pharmacy team members are committed to ensuring patient safety remains the core focus in all aspects of service delivery meaning people using the pharmacy experience a safe and efficient service.