Inspection outcome: Standards met
Last inspection: 22/07/2019
Pharmacy context
This is a small pharmacy located in Ditchling, a village in the South Downs National Park. It dispenses NHS and private prescriptions, sells a range of over-the-counter medicines and provides health advice. The pharmacy offers flu vaccinations in the autumn and winter seasons, and a twice weekly home delivery service. It also supplies some medicines in multi-compartment compliance aids for those who may have difficulty managing their medicines.
Inspection summary findings
Principle 1. Governance
Overall the pharmacy manages risk adequately. But it logs few of the mistakes it makes during the dispensing process. This may make it more difficult for the pharmacy to spot patterns and take action to prevent mistakes being repeated. The pharmacy has written instructions to tell staff how to complete tasks safely. But it has only just reviewed and updated some of them, so they may not be aware of any recent changes. The pharmacy keeps all of the records it needs to by law, and generally protects confidential information well. The pharmacy’s team members understand how they can help to protect the welfare of vulnerable people. The pharmacy has adequate insurance in place to help protect people if things do go wrong.
Principle 2. Staff
The pharmacy has enough staff to manage its workload safely. It provides them with appropriate training and supports their development needs.
Principle 3. Premises
The pharmacy’s premises are suitable for the provision of most of its services, but the location of the consulting room is not ideal.
Principle 4. Services, including medicines management
The pharmacy delivers its services in a safe and effective manner, and people with a range of needs can access them. The pharmacy sources, stores and generally manages medicines safely, but it is not yet scanning prescription medicines as required by law. The pharmacy takes steps to identify people supplied with high-risk medicines, but it doesn’t always record the details. So it may be missing opportunities to help ensure that people take their medicines safely. The pharmacy doesn’t currently have a hazardous waste bin to dispose of hazardous waste medicines and this may increase the risk to staff and the environment.
Principle 5. Equipment and facilities
The pharmacy has the right equipment for the range of services it provides, and it makes sure that it is properly maintained. The pharmacy generally keeps most people’s private information safe.
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 |