Inspection outcome: Standards met
Last inspection: 27/09/2019
Pharmacy context
This is a pharmacy inside St Albans City Hospital, in Hertfordshire that falls under the West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust. The pharmacy dispenses medicines to people who have been admitted to the hospital and to outpatients. This activity is regulated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). The pharmacy is registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) as it supplies medicines to two other organisations that are separate legal entities; Albany Lodge and Lambourne Grove. Both provide mental health services. The inspection and resulting report only deal with activities associated with the pharmacy’s GPhC registered activities.
Inspection summary findings
Principle 1. Governance
Overall, the pharmacy is well-run with safe practice and competent team members in place. The pharmacy team protects people's privacy well. Team members understand how to protect the welfare of vulnerable people. And, the pharmacy adequately maintains most of its records in accordance with the law. But, the team does not have many records in place to fully demonstrate the process when internal mistakes happen. And, although pharmacy team members deal with their mistakes responsibly, this could mean that they may be missing opportunities to learn from their mistakes and prevent them happening again.
Principle 2. Staff
The pharmacy has enough staff to manage its workload safely. Members of the pharmacy team are suitably qualified for their roles or are undertaking further training. They work well together and understand their roles and responsibilities. Team members are also provided with resources to help keep their skills and knowledge up to date.
Principle 3. Premises
The pharmacy's premises provide an adequate environment to deliver its services. The pharmacy is clean, it has plenty of space to provide its services safely and it is kept secure from unauthorised access.
Principle 4. Services, including medicines management
The pharmacy’s services are accessible to people with different needs. The pharmacy delivers its services using safe processes. And, the pharmacy sources, generally stores and manages its medicines appropriately.
Principle 5. Equipment and facilities
The pharmacy has a range of necessary equipment and facilities. This helps to provide its services safely. Its equipment is clean and used to help protect people’s privacy.
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 |