Inspection outcome: Standards met
Last inspection: 15/08/2019
Pharmacy context
The pharmacy is in a supermarket on the outskirts of Maldon in Essex. The pharmacy dispenses NHS prescriptions. And it provides Medicines Use Reviews (MURs) and occasional New Medicine Service (NMS) consultations. The pharmacy administers flu vaccinations during the winter season. It has a malaria prevention service. The pharmacy assembles medication in multi-compartment compliance packs for some people who need help managing their medicines. It delivers medicines to people's homes on three days a week. It offers a range of sexual health services including contraception under the C-Card scheme, emergency hormonal contraception and medicine for erectile dysfunction using patient group directions (PGDs). The pharmacy offers a range of Health-Checks including blood pressure, glucose and cholesterol as well as a smoking cessation service. A small number of people use the substance misuse service.
Inspection summary findings
Principle 1. Governance
The pharmacy identifies and manages the risks associated with its services. It records and regularly reviews its mistakes and can show how the team learns and improves from these events. It largely keeps the records it needs to by law and its team members have clear roles and responsibilities. It asks the people who use the pharmacy for feedback. Team members know how to protect vulnerable people. And they keep people’s personal information safe.
Principle 2. Staff
The pharmacy has enough team members to manage its workload safely. They are appropriately trained and have a good understanding about their roles and responsibilities. They make suggestions to improve safety and workflows where appropriate. They are provided with feedback and have regular appraisals to identify any opportunities for development or learning.
Principle 3. Premises
The pharmacy team keeps the pharmacy secure, clean and tidy. The pharmacist has an area to check prescriptions and this is kept clear to help reduce the risk of mistakes. People can have a conversation with a team member in a private area.
Principle 4. Services, including medicines management
The pharmacy largely provides its services safely and effectively. It gets its medicines from reputable suppliers and stores them properly. Its team members identify and give advice to people taking high-risk medicines to make sure that they are taken safely. And team members take the right action if any medicines or devices need to be returned to the suppliers. This means that people get medicines and devices that are safe to use. The pharmacy makes sure that multi-compartment compliance packs for people who need help managing their medicines are dispensed safely. But it doesn’t always supply patient information leaflets with the packs. And this could mean that people don't get all the information they need to take their medicines safely.
Principle 5. Equipment and facilities
The pharmacy has the equipment it needs for its services and it largely maintains it well. It uses its equipment to help protect people's personal information.
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 |