This website uses cookies to help you make the most of your visit.
By continuing to browse without changing your settings, you agree to our use of cookies.
Give me more information
x
-->

Pharmacy inspections

Inspection reports and learning from inspections

Skip to Content (Press Enter)

Encouraging and empowering staff feedback through a staff ownership model

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

  • 2.5 - Staff are empowered to provide feedback and raise concerns about meeting these standards and other aspects of pharmacy services

Why this is notable practice

The pharmacy actively encourages feedback and views from its team members. The pharmacy team is fully involved in improving the delivery of the pharmacy’s services through a staff ownership model.

How the pharmacy did this

The pharmacy had a staff ownership model in place and this provided staff with opportunities to fully engage with issues involving the delivery of the pharmacy’s services. The senior management team regularly shared information, including finance reports with all employees in the scheme.

Pharmacy team members felt the management team, including the superintendent pharmacist, had an ‘open door’ approach. This meant any member of the team could access them to discuss an issue or provide feedback. The pharmacy had set up weekly team meetings following feedback from a staff survey which indicated that communication could be improved. Pharmacy team members were encouraged to feedback during these meetings. Minutes from the meetings were distributed to all staff to support shared learning processes.

The pharmacy had a staff suggestions book if people wanted to raise feedback anonymously or indirectly and this was monitored to ensure any feedback provided in this way was acknowledged and acted upon.

The pharmacy team demonstrated how prescriptions for diamorphine were held in red folders and a six-way checking process was implemented to support safety checks associated with dispensing the high-risk medicine. This had been implemented following some members of the team raising a concern about the risk of complacency as the pharmacy dealt with a large volume of prescriptions for this medicine.

What difference this made to patients

People visiting the pharmacy can be assured that the pharmacy team members have a genuine interest and passion for delivering high quality services and patient care.

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