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The pharmacy is finding ways of making the dispensing and checking of multi-compartment compliance packs safer and more efficient.

The pharmacy obtains consent to inform the person’s usual GP when medicines are prescribed through its online prescribing service. It verifies the information people provide when completing the consultation questionnaires. This ensures people receive medicines that are appropriate for them.

The pharmacy is providing safe and effective treatment to people through the NHS Scotland Pharmacy First Plus service. The pharmacist providing the service uses a structured consultation and record keeping approach. And refers to resources and colleagues from other professions to help form a multi-disciplinary approach to care. And they fully involve the patient in decisions about their care

GPhC engagement indicates that a good quality pharmacy-led COVID-19 vaccination site is one which has

• Clear leadership. The service has been well thought through with a clearly articulated written plan. The plan is person centred. It identifies and mitigates for the potential risks involved in providing the service. And everyone involved understands their roles and responsibilities.

• A well trained and well-motivated team. Team members are fully trained for their individual roles and have a good understanding of the service as a whole. The team regularly reviews the service so that it can modify it quickly to adapt to changing circumstances. And there is a culture of continuous improvement.

• A well-designed, well laid-out and well managed site. It has enough space for people to progress through the vaccination process in a logical fashion, while maintaining social distancing. And people do not unnecessarily cross paths with others. The site has regular robust cleaning routines and the patient journey is well thought through. People can find the site without difficulty, park easily and know what to expect when they get there. People are made welcome and are dealt with thoughtfully, efficiently and speedily throughout the service.

The pharmacy undertakes regular reviews of its COVID-19 vaccination service. It uses the information from these reviews to help inform the patient journey through the service. This means that people spend less time in the pharmacy and more people can be vaccinated.

The pharmacy team has a good working relationship with the team in the nearby medical centre. It uses this working relationship to share any concerns it has about vulnerable people, to help ensure they are safeguarded. The pharmacy team also pass on information to people about the services provided at the medical centre.

The pharmacy learns from the experiences of other COVID-19 vaccination sites and is well prepared for the launch of its vaccination service. It anticipates that on the first two days of the service it may need to provide fewer vaccinations to give team members enough time to become clear about their roles and responsibilities. And to become proficient in the procedures they should follow. This is to ensure that in the days and weeks following the pharmacy can deliver the service as safely and efficiently as possible.

The pharmacy is supporting its team members' learning and development associated with requests for higher-risk over-the-counter medicines. This is directly in response to media coverage of GPhC enforcement action against pharmacies around the unsafe supply of codeine linctus.

The pharmacy adapts its way of working during the pandemic to continue to safely provide its services for people. It is conducting video consultations for a number of its services, including the provision of emergency hormonal contraception. This minimises direct contact with people to help prevent the risk of spreading infection and maintains people's privacy. In addition, the visual clues provided through video consultations often enables the pharmacist to better help people and provide appropriate advice.

The pharmacy provides assurances to people and to its team members, that its consultation room can be used safely. This means it is able to reintroduce many of its services confidently, including a flu vaccination service. It conducts a thorough assessment of the risks to the people accessing these services and to its team members. And it has measures in place to keep them safe.