Inspection outcome: Standards met
Last inspection: 10/03/2020
Pharmacy context
This busy pharmacy dispenses prescriptions under an NHS community pharmacy contract, and it also processes prescriptions associated with a dispensing doctor service. It is in a largely rural location. The pharmacy premises are adjacent to the GP practice and had been refitted since the last inspection to create extra space for dispensing and storage. The pharmacy manager provides a large range of services under patient group directions including; seasonal flu vaccinations, treatment for erectile dysfunction, period delay, travel medicines, and salbutamol inhalers. The pharmacy sells a range of medicines over the counter and gives advice to people about healthcare matters. Some people receive their medication in multi-compartment compliance packs. And the pharmacy delivers some medicines to people at home.
Inspection summary findings
Principle 1. Governance
The pharmacy manages and identifies risks in the pharmacy well to make sure its services are safe. Its team members are encouraged to learn from their mistakes. And they review and monitor how the pharmacy is working, to continually improve. The pharmacy keeps people’s information safe. And its team members know what actions to take to protect vulnerable people if they have concerns about people’s welfare. The pharmacy keeps the records it needs to by law, and these are largely complete.
Principle 2. Staff
The pharmacy’s team members work well together, and they are suitably trained for the roles they undertake. There are enough of them to cope with the workload safely. They regularly rotate through a variety of tasks so they can keep their skills up to date. And they are given good support by their company to keep their knowledge current. Team members learn from their mistakes to reduce risks in the pharmacy and make services safer.
Principle 3. Premises
The pharmacy's premises are safe, secure, and suitable for the services it provides. They are well-maintained. And the premises are accessible to people with mobility problems. The staff are aware of the increased risks to people associated with coronavirus outbreak and have changed their cleaning routines accordingly.
Principle 4. Services, including medicines management
The pharmacy provides its services safely. It gets its medicines from reputable sources and generally stores them correctly. And it dispenses all prescriptions in an orderly way, making good use of the skills of the pharmacy team. The staff regularly date-check medicines so they are safe to supply. And the pharmacy takes the right action if there are concerns about the quality of medicines. The pharmacy team is aware of the need for extra care when supplying medicines which may be higher risk. However, prescriptions for these medicines are not always highlighted so it may be harder for staff to give people all the information they need to take their medicine safely.
Principle 5. Equipment and facilities
The pharmacy has access to the equipment and facilities it needs to provide its services safely. And it has systems in place to make sure its equipment is working properly.
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 |