WS Health Services (9011397) - Improvement action plan

The pharmacy does not make sure its policies are always being followed when medicines are sold via a third party sales platform. This increases the risk of people being able to obtain large quantities of medicines which have the potential to be abused or misused.

1.Identification and Limitation of High-Risk Medicines:
•The first step taken was to identify medicines that pose a higher risk of abuse or misuse. For these high-risk medicines, we have immediately reduced the maximum allowable quantity per transaction to one unit per purchase.
•All staff have been provided with thorough training on the new policy to ensure they understand and enforce these new limits effectively when processing sales.

2.Implementation of a New CRM System for Better Monitoring:
•We have integrated a new Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system across all our sales platforms, including third-party platforms. This system provides enhanced monitoring and control over the sale of medicines.
•The CRM is designed to flag potentially dangerous purchases, based on preset criteria, allowing pharmacy staff to intervene efficiently and accurately in cases where abuse or misuse is suspected.

3.Traffic Light System for Risk Identification:
•To streamline the identification process, we have implemented a traffic light system within the CRM for all medications. This system categorises medications based on their risk level, making it easy for staff to recognise and respond to potential over-purchasing or misuse.

4.Security Measures to Prevent Abuse:
•The CRM has been further enhanced with security features that block individuals from purchasing the same or similar medications to the same address. This prevents buyers from circumventing the system by placing multiple orders under different accounts.
•Additionally, the CRM is equipped with a future-proof ID check function, which will add another layer of security for verifying purchasers and further improving patient safety.

5.Staff Training and Risk Assessments:
•All staff members have undergone comprehensive training to use the new CRM system effectively and understand the traffic light system and security measures.
•Prior to the system’s implementation, we conducted detailed risk assessments to identify any potential areas of concern, ensuring the system is robust and focused on patient safety.