Providing information and reducing avoidable visits to the pharmacy

Pharmacy type

Community

Pharmacy context

COVID-19

Relevant standards

• 1.1 - The risks associated with providing pharmacy services are identified and managed

Why this is notable practice

The pharmacy has measures in place to help the team manage its workload effectively and keep people informed about the availability of their medicines. These measures also reduce the number of visits people make to the pharmacy and so help to reduce the risk of transmitting the virus.

How the pharmacy did this

The pharmacy had reorganised its prescription delivery and collection services. And had developed a prescription collection rota, in accordance with two-hour time slots throughout the day. The pharmacy’s team members had asked people to contact them four days after they had ordered their electronic prescriptions from their surgery, so that the team could arrange a delivery or provide them with a specific day and two-hour time slot to collect their medicines. Towards the end of each day, the pharmacist had gone through the deliveries and collections rota for the following day. And had highlighted those where there were issues. This included problems with stock availability. The pharmacist then contacted the person and prescriber, if necessary, to inform them of the problem. He had called people to make them aware of any problems or changes to their prescriptions, answer their questions and prevent them from making a wasted journey to the pharmacy the following day. The two-hour collection time slots had allowed the pharmacy team to manage the workload more efficiently and meant that there were fewer people in the pharmacy, or queuing outside, at any time. People expecting a delivery were called beforehand to ensure they would be at home to receive it.

What difference this made to patients

People are kept informed of any issues with their medicines. And people collecting their medicines know exactly when to collect them. People are provided with an opportunity to ask questions about their medicines and can avoid multiple trips to the pharmacy. With fewer trips to the pharmacy, the risk of people contracting or transmitting the virus is reduced.