Pharmacy type
Closed
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 is identifying and minimising the risks associated with making regular deliveries to care homes. And it is taking a number of steps to mitigate the risks identified. It is minimising the risk of spreading COVID-19 by adopting a series of hygiene measures for the team to follow.
How the pharmacy did this
The pharmacy had completed individual risk assessments for each member of staff, as well as a workplace risk assessment. The pharmacy was closed to the public. And it had identified that its own delivery drivers were its greatest source of risk as they were in and out of care homes several times a day, every day. After conducting the risk assessment, drivers had been provided with masks and gloves which they changed several times a day and had been required to carry disinfectant sprays as well as hand sanitisers. The pharmacy had also placed a footwell containing a lining soaked with disinfectant solution, outside its entrance. Everyone entering the pharmacy had been required to step through the footwell to clean their footwear.
After retrieving the empty delivery totes from the care homes, drivers had disinfected them using a disinfectant solution and a garden pressure sprayer. The empty totes had then been placed in a separate lockup and left untouched for seven days before they were reused or taken back into the pharmacy. Delivery vans were cleaned inside and out after each journey and had been fitted with tracking devices so that the pharmacy could show exactly where each van had been, when and for how long, to inform any COVID-19 test and trace contact enquiries. The team had also been required to identify their own 'family bubble' and had recorded every contact they had with anyone other than their spouse or partner.
What difference this made to patients
By adopting a series of hygiene measures for its delivery drivers the pharmacy is able to ensure that it can continue to deliver people’s medicines while reducing the risk of spreading the virus.
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: