Houston PharmacyGPhC

Pharmacy context

This is a community pharmacy on a main road in a city suburb. It dispenses NHS prescriptions including supplying medicines in multi‐compartment compliance packs. The pharmacy offers a repeat prescription collection service and a medicines’ delivery service. It also provides substance misuse services and dispenses private prescriptions. The pharmacy team advises on minor ailments and medicines’ use. And it supplies a range of over‐the‐counter medicines. The pharmacy had changed ownership within the past year and had a new superintendent pharmacist who worked full-time in the pharmacy. This pharmacy was inspected during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Standards by principle

• Principle 1 – Governance

  Standards met

  The pharmacy team members follow written processes for services to ensure they provide them safely. They review processes and change them as required making use of team members’ skills to work efficiently and safely. They record mistakes to learn from them and make changes to minimise the chance of the same mistakes happening again. The pharmacy keeps all the records that it needs to by law and keeps people’s private information safe. Team members know how to protect vulnerable people.

• Principle 2 – Staff

  Standards met

  The pharmacy has enough qualified and experienced team members to safely provide services. They are trained and competent for their roles and the services they provide. The pharmacy gives them time for training during the working day. Team members can make decisions within their competence to provide safe services to people. They know how to make suggestions and raise concerns if they have any to keep the pharmacy safe.

• Principle 3 – Premises

  Standards met

  The pharmacy premises are safe and clean and suitable for its services. And they are secure when the pharmacy is closed. The team uses the design and layout of the dispensary effectively for different activities. Team members use private rooms for private conversations with people. Other people cannot overhear these conversations.

• Principle 4 – Services

  Standards met

  The pharmacy helps people to access its services, using different approaches during the COVID-19 pandemic. It provides safe services. Team members support people by giving them information and suitable advice to help them use their medicines. And they provide extra written information to people taking higher-risk medicines. The pharmacy obtains medicines from reliable sources and stores them properly. The pharmacy team knows what to do if medicines are not fit for purpose.

• Principle 5 – Equipment

  Standards met

  The pharmacy has the equipment it needs for the delivery of its services. The pharmacy looks after this equipment to ensure it works.

Inspection history summary