Inspection outcome: Standards met
Last inspection: 12/02/2020
Pharmacy context
This community pharmacy is in the middle of the village of Bottisham. Its main activity is dispensing NHS prescriptions. Most medicines it dispenses are for people in care homes and the majority of these medicines are supplied in multi-compartment compliance packs. It also supplies medicines in multi-compartment compliance packs to many people who live at home. Three delivery drivers take medicines to people’s homes and to the care homes. The pharmacist also provides Medicines Use Reviews and New Medicine Service checks. And he occasionally receives patient referrals through the Community Pharmacy Consultation Service.
Inspection summary findings
Principle 1. Governance
The pharmacy identifies and manages the risks associated with its services adequately. It has made improvements to how it looks after people’s information. And it uses mistakes in the dispensing process as opportunities to improve and learn from. The pharmacy keeps the records that it needs to by law. And pharmacy professionals understand their role in protecting vulnerable people. The pharmacy has written procedures which tell its staff how to complete tasks safely, and these are reviewed so they reflect current practice. But, not all members of the pharmacy team have signed the procedures. This could make it harder to be sure that all members of staff are aware of and are following the procedures correctly.
Principle 2. Staff
The pharmacy has enough staff to manage its workload. It can alter its staffing arrangements to cope with changes in its workload. And pharmacy professionals can exercise their professional judgement to act in people’s best interests. The pharmacy could do more to make sure its staff are enrolled promptly on the required accredited training for the roles they carry out. And the lack of a structured approach to ongoing training may make it harder for trained staff to keep their skills and knowledge up to date and to identify any additional training needs.
Principle 3. Premises
The pharmacy provides its services from suitable premises. The pharmacy has enough space to safely provide its services, and it has appropriate security arrangements to protect its premises.
Principle 4. Services, including medicines management
Overall, the pharmacy provides its services effectively. The pharmacy obtains its medicines from reputable suppliers and generally stores them appropriately. It understands how to respond to alerts about the safety of medicines. But it does not keep a record of what it has done about these. So, it is harder for the pharmacy to show it has taken the right action to remove affected medicines from circulation. And it doesn’t always highlight prescriptions for medicines which are higher risk. This could increase the chances of some medicines being handed out when the prescription isn’t valid. And some people may not get the advice they need to take their medicines safely.
Principle 5. Equipment and facilities
The pharmacy generally has the right equipment and facilities to provide its services. It checks its equipment to make sure it is working correctly.
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 |