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Pharmacy inspections

Inspection reports and learning from inspections

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Sending regular communication bulletins so that members of the COVID-19 vaccination team are kept up to date

Pharmacy type

Community

Pharmacy context

COVID-19

Relevant standards

  • 2.4 - There is a culture of openness, honesty and learning

Why this is notable practice

There are many different people who work as part of the team at the pharmacy’s COVID-19 vaccination site, and they work a variety of shifts. The pharmacy keeps the team members up to date using email and instant messages, so they are well informed on what is happening at the centre.

How the pharmacy did this

The pharmacy was running a COVID-19 vaccination service at an associated site. The service was staffed from a large bank of volunteers who acted as marshals and administrators. And healthcare professionals who administered the vaccines.

The Superintendent Pharmacist (SI) sent email bulletins to all team members twice a week to ensure they were kept up to date. The updates contained information provided by NHS, learning from other vaccination centres and from internal reviews and audits. The pharmacy had two mailing lists; one for clinical staff and one for non-clinical staff. And it tailored the contents of each update to the recipient list. The SI found that sending emails directly to people ensured they were kept informed, regardless of their shift pattern. There was a team briefing, led by either the SI or the lead pharmacist before each vaccination session and they discussed the latest updates to ensure everyone had read and understood them. And this also gave people the opportunity to ask any questions they had.

The pharmacy also setup several WhatsApp groups for the vaccination centre. It organised these groups by different job roles. This allowed messages to be sent quickly and easily. The WhatsApp groups had ‘ground rules’ to ensure discussions were professional and did not include patient information.

What difference this made to patients

Pharmacy team members are well informed and are up to date with any changes in procedures. And the pharmacy encourages them to continually reflect and learn from adverse events. This helps to ensure they continue to provide a safe and efficient service to people attending for the site.

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:

  1. 1.1 Risk management
  2. 1.2 Reviewing and monitoring the safety of services
  3. 4.2 Safe and effective service delivery
  4. 4.3 Sourcing and safe, secure management of medicines and devices
  5. 2.2 Staff skills and qualifications