Inspection outcome: Standards not all met
Last inspection: 22/10/2024
Pharmacy context
This is a community pharmacy in central London. It does not have an NHS contract. But it does sell over-the-counter medicines and it dispenses private prescriptions and supplies medicines via patient group directions (PGDs). The pharmacy provides the following services: phlebotomy, prescribing, weight loss, aesthetics, a variety of vaccinations to protect people against childhood diseases or when they are travelling.
Inspection summary findings
Principle 1. Governance
The pharmacy does not adequately assess the risks of providing a private prescribing service to people. It does not have written risk assessments, procedures, prescribing policy, or formulary for its service. The pharmacy's team members do not routinely assess the risks and monitor the safety and quality of the services they provide. The pharmacy does not regularly review any written instructions which could tell its team members how to carry out their tasks. That means they cannot be sure they are adequately managing the risks of providing their services. They are dispensing prescriptions that do not meet legal requirements. The pharmacy does not keep all the records required by law and it doesn't ensure that it is adequately insured for all of its services. The pharmacy team members understand their roles in protecting vulnerable people and private information.
Principle 2. Staff
The pharmacy team members work well together to manage the workload. The pharmacy provides them with ongoing training in product knowledge. And they feel able to make suggestions which improve the pharmacy’s services.
Principle 3. Premises
The premises are secure, clean and bright. The location and layout of the pharmacy's consultation room protects people's privacy. The pharmacy presents a suitable environment from which to provide pharmacy services. And the pharmacy is secured when closed keeping its medicines and equipment safe.
Principle 4. Services, including medicines management
The pharmacy does not manage its private prescribing service safely. It does not have adequate safeguards in place to help protect people when they use its prescribiing service. Neither the prescriber nor the responsible pharmacist demonstrate sufficient insight into the risks associated with running their private prescribing service. The pharmacy makes its services easily accessible to people, and it obtains its stock from licensed wholesalers. It stores its medicines securely at the right temperature and it makes regular checks to ensure they remain safe to supply.
Principle 5. Equipment and facilities
The pharmacy has the equipment and the facilities it needs to provide its services safely. And its team makes sure the equipment protects private 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 does 'pharmacy has not met all standards' mean?
When a pharmacy has not met all standards, they are required to complete an improvement action plan, which you can find via a link at the top left of this page. We monitor progress to check the improvements are made and inspect again after six months to make sure the pharmacy is maintaining these improvements. A new report will then be published.