Inspection outcome: Standards met
Last inspection: 22/08/2024
Pharmacy context
The pharmacy is in a shopping centre in Chatham town centre. It provides NHS dispensing services, the New Medicine Service, the Pharmacy First service, blood pressure checks, and it uses patient group directions for its contraception service, COVID vaccination and flu vaccination services. The pharmacy supplies medicines in multi-compartment compliance packs to a small number of people who live in their own homes and need this support. And it supplies medicines to a large number of care homes. The pharmacy also provides substance misuse medications to some people.
Inspection summary findings
Principle 1. Governance
The pharmacy identifies and manages the risks associated with its services to help provide them safely. It records and regularly reviews any mistakes that happen during the dispensing process. It uses this information to help make its services safer and reduce future risks. It protects people’s personal information well. And it regularly seeks feedback from people who use the pharmacy. Team members understand their role in protecting vulnerable people. And the pharmacy largely keeps its records up to date and accurate.
Principle 2. Staff
The pharmacy has enough members to provide its services safely. They are provided with ongoing and structured training to support their learning needs and maintain their knowledge and skills. And they get time set aside in work to complete it. They can raise any concerns or make suggestions and have regular meetings. Team members can take professional decisions to ensure people taking medicines are safe. These are not affected by the pharmacy’s targets.
Principle 3. Premises
The premises provide a safe, secure, and clean environment for the pharmacy's services. People can have a conversation with a team member in a private area.
Principle 4. Services, including medicines management
The pharmacy provides its services safely and it manages them well. And people with a range of needs can access the pharmacy’s services. The pharmacy highlights prescriptions for higher-risk medicines and it routinely speaks with people when they collect these medicines. The pharmacy gets its medicines from reputable suppliers and stores them properly. It responds appropriately to drug alerts and product recalls. This helps make sure that its medicines and devices are safe for people to use. And people who get their medicines in multi-compartment compliance packs receive the information they need to take their medicines safely.
Principle 5. Equipment and facilities
The pharmacy has the equipment it needs to provide its services safely. It uses its equipment to help protect people’s personal information.
What do the inspection outcomes mean?
After an inspection each pharmacy receives one overall outcome. This will be either Standards met or Standards not all met
| The pharmacy has met all the standards for registered pharmacies | |
| The pharmacy has not met one or more of the standards for registered pharmacies |
What do the summary findings for each principle mean?
The standards for registered pharmacies are made up of five principles. The pharmacy will also receive one of four possible findings for each of these principles. These are:
| The pharmacy delivers an innovative service and benefits the whole community and performs well against the standards | |
| The pharmacy delivers positive outcomes for patients and performs well against most of the standards | |
| The pharmacy meets all the standards | |
| The pharmacy has not met one or more standards |