Royal Free London Pharmacy (9011019)

Inspection summary findings

Principle 1. Governance

Members of the pharmacy team generally try to identify and manage risks effectively. They are clear about their roles and responsibilities. The pharmacy keeps its records up to date. It manages and protects information well and it tells people how their private information will be used. The team members also understand how they can help to protect the welfare of vulnerable people. There is some learning from near misses to avoid problems being repeated. But pharmacy team members do not usually log any mistakes they make during the pharmacy processes. So they may be missing opportunities to find any patterns or trends and learn from these to improve their processes.

Principle 2. Staff

The pharmacy has enough qualified staff to provide safe services. The pharmacy team is provided with training by the hospital trust and staff find this useful to help keep their skills and knowledge up to date.

Principle 3. Premises

The premises are clean and provide a safe, secure and professional environment for people to receive healthcare. The pharmacy has enough space to be easily navigated by people using wheelchairs.

Principle 4. Services, including medicines management

The pharmacy’s working practices are generally safe and effective and it gets its medicines from reputable sources. Pharmacy team members are helpful and give advice to people about where they can get other support. There could be greater clarity about the shared responsibilities between the Trust pharmacy and this pharmacy in relation to professional checks carried out on chemotherapy prescriptions.

Principle 5. Equipment and facilities

The pharmacy generally has the right equipment for its services. It makes sure its equipment is safe to use.