Pharmacy context
This is an independently run, local community pharmacy, in a residential area of Hanwell. In addition to dispensing prescriptions and selling over-the-counter medicines, the pharmacy supplies medicines in multi-compartment compliance aids. And it provides a delivery service for the vulnerable and housebound. The pharmacy also provides drug treatment services to people who have developed a dependency from substance misuse. And it plans to offer a flu vaccination service for the forthcoming flu season. The inspection was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic. The pharmacy had limited its range of services due to the pandemic.
Inspection summary findings
Principle 1. Governance
The pharmacy identifies its risks adequately. And its team members have suitably adapted their working practices to minimise risks to people's safety during the COVID-19 pandemic. Team members record their errors and review them to identify the cause so that changes can be made to stop mistakes from happening again. And they respond well to feedback. The pharmacy has written procedures in place to help ensure that its team members work safely. The pharmacy has insurance to cover its services. Team members know how to protect people’s private information and know how to protect the safety of vulnerable people. But while the pharmacy keeps all the records it needs to keep, some of its records are incomplete.
Principle 2. Staff
The pharmacy team manages the workload safely and effectively. And team members work well together. They are comfortable about providing feedback to one another, so that they can maintain the quality of the pharmacy's services. But key members of the team have still to complete the appropriate training.
Principle 3. Premises
The pharmacy’s premises provide a suitable environment for people to receive its services. They are sufficiently clean and secure. But they would benefit from having a greater amount of work surface. The pharmacy has made some sensible adjustments to help keep people safe during the pandemic.
Principle 4. Services, including medicines management
The pharmacy provides its services safely. And makes them easily accessible for people. Staff understand the actions to take if any medicines or devices are not safe to use to protect people’s health and wellbeing. The pharmacy team gets its medicines and medical devices from appropriate sources. And it stores them properly. Team members make the necessary checks to ensure that the pharmacy’s medicines and devices are safe to use to protect people’s health and wellbeing.
Principle 5. Equipment and facilities
The pharmacy has the equipment and facilities it needs to provide services safely. And, it keeps them clean. The team uses its facilities and equipment to keep 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 |