Pharmacy context
This is a community pharmacy situated near to a GP surgery. It is located on the inner ring road of Lancaster city centre. The pharmacy dispenses NHS prescriptions, private prescriptions and sells over-the-counter medicines. It also supplies medicines in multi-compartment compliance aids for some people to help them take their medicines at the right time.
Inspection summary findings
Principle 1. Governance
The pharmacy has written procedures to help its team work safely. And members of the team discuss things that go wrong to help identify learning. But the pharmacy does not always keep appropriate records to be able to show whether it is operating effectively. And it does not take enough care to ensure people's information is protected.
Principle 2. Staff
There are enough staff to manage the pharmacy's workload and they are appropriately trained for the jobs they do. But team members are not provided with ongoing learning and development opportunities. So learning and training needs may not always be addressed.
Principle 3. Premises
The pharmacy premises are suitable for the services provided. A consultation room is available to enable private conversations.
Principle 4. Services, including medicines management
The pharmacy's services are easy to access for most people. But there are steps which may prevent people with reduced mobility from entering the premises. The pharmacy gets its medicines from recognised sources and carries out some checks to ensure they are in good condition. But members of the pharmacy team do not always know when they are handing out higher-risk medicines. So they might not always be able to check that the medicines are still suitable, or give people advice about taking them. And some pharmacy-only medicines are located in 'self-selection' areas, so the pharmacy cannot provide assurance that sales are being appropriately controlled.
Principle 5. Equipment and facilities
Members of the pharmacy team have access to the equipment they need for the services they provide. And they maintain the equipment so that it is safe to use.
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 does 'pharmacy has not met all standards' mean?
When a pharmacy has not met all standards, they are required to complete an improvement action plan, which you can find via a link at the top left of this page. We monitor progress to check the improvements are made and inspect again after six months to make sure the pharmacy is maintaining these improvements. A new report will then be published.