Inspection outcome: Standards met
Last inspection: 30/05/2023
Pharmacy context
This independent community pharmacy is located in central London close to Edgware Road Tube station. It is open extended hours over seven days. The pharmacy sells over the counter (OTC) medicines. It supplies a small number of NHS prescriptions. It provides other NHS services such as needle exchange, supervised consumption, the Community Pharmacy Consultation Service (CPCS) and seasonal flu vaccinations. People who visit the pharmacy include local workers, residents and tourists. Many of its customers are Arabic speaking.
Inspection summary findings
Principle 1. Governance
Overall, the pharmacy manages the risks associated with its services. And it keeps the records required by law. Pharmacy team members understand the principles of safeguarding, and they protect people’s personal information. The pharmacy has some written procedures explaining how it operates. But these are not fully implemented into day-to-day practice, which means the team may not always work effectively.
Principle 2. Staff
The pharmacy has a small close-knit team. Team members have access to appropriate training. But the pharmacy does not have a formal review process or staff training programme, so completion of training is not always monitored, and team members are delayed in
developing the necessary skills.
Principle 3. Premises
The pharmacy’s premises are secure and suitable for the services it provides. People can have a confidential conversation with a team member in a private area.
Principle 4. Services, including medicines management
The pharmacy’s services are easy for people to access. The pharmacy team generally manages the services safely, so people receive appropriate care. The pharmacy obtains its medicines from licensed suppliers, and it carries out some checks to make sure that they are kept in good condition. But it does not have a robust date checking system and it sometimes delays disposing of unwanted medicines.
Principle 5. Equipment and facilities
Members of the pharmacy team have the equipment and facilities they need for the services they provide. Equipment is appropriately maintained so that it is safe 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 |