Copnor PharmacyGPhC

Pharmacy context

This is an independently owned pharmacy on a main road between Hilsea and Copnor in Portsmouth. It dispenses people’s prescriptions, sells over-the-counter medicines and gives healthcare advice. It dispenses some medicines in multi-compartment compliance packs for people who may have some difficulty managing their medicines. It also delivers them if people can’t get to the pharmacy themselves. The pharmacy also offers the ‘pharmacy collect’ service where people can take a box of COVID-19 test kits away to use at home.

Standards by principle

• Principle 1 – Governance

  Standards met

  The pharmacy has up-to-date written instructions which tell its team members how to complete their tasks safely. It has also made suitable adjustments to those instructions to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. Members of its team are clear about their roles and responsibilities. They work to professional standards, identifying and generally managing risks effectively. The pharmacy has adequate insurance in place to help protect people if things do go wrong. The pharmacy manages and protects confidential information well, and it tells people how their private information will be used. Team members also understand how they can help to protect the welfare of vulnerable people. But the pharmacy does not adequately record some of its activities and the possible risks associated with them. This makes it harder for the pharmacy to show what it has done if a problem were to arise in the future.

• Principle 2 – Staff

  Standards met

  The pharmacy has enough staff to manage its day-to-day workload safely. Most pharmacy team members are appropriately trained, and they all appear to work well together. They have a satisfactory understanding of their role and how they can help people with their medicines. They are suitably aware of the risks involved in selling some medicines and know when to involve the pharmacist. But the pharmacy does not currently have enough staff to effectively manage its general administration, although it has taken action to address this.

• Principle 3 – Premises

  Standards met

  The pharmacy provides a safe and secure environment for people to receive its services. It has made suitable adjustments to its premises to help minimise the spread of COVID-19. And it has enough space for people to carry out their tasks safely and effectively.

• Principle 4 – Services

  Standards met

  The pharmacy provides a range of services which it generally delivers in a safe and effective manner. And people with a range of needs can easily access them. It sources, stores and manages its medicines safely. And it makes sure that all the medicines it supplies are fit for purpose, responding satisfactorily to drug alerts or product recalls. Its team members identify people supplied with high-risk medicines so that they can be given extra information they need to take their medicines safely. But they don’t keep adequate records of the advice they have given, or the safety checks they have made. This might make it harder for them to show what they had done if a problem arises later on. The pharmacy doesn’t always give people enough of the written information they should have with their compliance packs. This may make it harder for them or their carers to understand everything they need to about their medicines.

• Principle 5 – Equipment

  Standards met

  The pharmacy has the right equipment for the range of services it provides, and it makes sure that it is generally kept suitably clean and properly maintained. It has also made some sensible additions to its equipment during the pandemic to help the team protect themselves and maintain their services to people. The pharmacy keeps people’s private information safe.

Inspection history summary