Pharmacy type
Community
Pharmacy context
COVID-19
Relevant standards
- 3.1 - Premises are safe, clean, properly maintained and suitable for the pharmacy services provided
Why this is notable practice
The pharmacy understands the importance of reviewing the risks associated with its current layout as it plans to reintroduce a range of its services. It is reorganising its customer areas so that it can accommodate social distancing and provide face-to-face consultations and services, such as flu vaccinations, safely.
How the pharmacy did this
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the pharmacist had reviewed the floorplan of the retail area and the consultation room. He had refitted and reorganised the consultation room and had made it bigger, so that he could provide a safe social distance for face-to-face consultations. He had also made the retail area smaller. And had created a clear two-metre gap between the customer area and the medicines counter. The pharmacy had also introduced a bespoke Perspex screen, with two dedicated serving hatches, which extended across the entire front of the medicines counter.
The pharmacy team had planned for the upcoming flu season by ordering more vaccines than in previous years. It had done so in anticipation of an increased demand for the service. The pharmacy was also risk assessing the benefits of offering a dedicated flu vaccination clinic on Saturdays with appointments and pre-assessments conducted over the telephone. The pharmacist had also ordered additional PPE for providing this service. The pharmacist had anticipated that he would need to carry out a further review before the launch of the service to ensure compliance with current published guidance.
What difference this made to patients
People will be able to safely access a wider range of pharmacy services. And vulnerable people can seek the protection provided by flu vaccinations during the winter months. The changes in the layout of both the retail area and the consultation room accommodate social distancing requirements. And so, the risk of transmitting the virus is reduced.
Highlighted standards
We have identified the standards most likely and least likely to be met in inspections, and highlighted examples of notable practice for each of these standards; to help everyone learn from others and to support continuous improvement: