Inspection outcome: Standards met
Last inspection: 10/02/2022
Pharmacy context
This is a community pharmacy on a High Street, and the pharmacy is open extended hours. Its main activity is dispensing NHS prescriptions, and it has a dispensing robot. The pharmacy also supplies medicines in multi-compartment compliance packs to some people who need help taking their medicines. And it provides the New Medicine Service and travel vaccinations. The inspection was undertaken during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Inspection summary findings
Principle 1. Governance
The pharmacy adequately identifies and manages the risks associated with its services. People can provide feedback about the pharmacy’s services. The pharmacy largely keeps the records it needs to, to help show that medicines are supplied safely and legally. It protects people’s personal information well. Team members know how to protect the welfare of vulnerable people. When a mistake happens, staff generally respond well. But they do not always make records of these mistakes, which could mean that they are missing out on opportunities to learn and make the pharmacy’s services safer.
Principle 2. Staff
Team members do the right training for their roles, and they do some ongoing training to help keep their knowledge and skills up to date. Staff feel comfortable about raising concerns and can use their own professional judgement to help make sure people are kept safe. The pharmacy is short-staffed, but it is already taking steps to recruit more team members.
Principle 3. Premises
The premises are generally suitable for the pharmacy’s services. People can have a conversation with a team member in a private area. And the premises are kept secure from unauthorised access when closed. But the amount of storage space the premises have is only just adequate for the amount of stock the pharmacy holds.
Principle 4. Services, including medicines management
Overall, the pharmacy provides its services safely, and people can access its services. It generally provides medicines in multi-compartment compliance packs safely. It obtains its medicines from reputable sources and largely stores them appropriately. It takes the right action when safety alerts are received, so that people get medicines and medical devices that are safe to use. But not having the records for these at hand makes it harder for the pharmacy to show the action that was taken in response.
Principle 5. Equipment and facilities
The pharmacy has the equipment it needs to provide its services. And it uses its equipment in a way which helps protect people’s personal information. But it could do more to ensure that its equipment is always kept clean and fit 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 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 |