Empowering you to meet regulatory and best practice requirements
Empowering you to meet regulatory and best practice requirements
IMPORTANT: Patient Safety First |
In June, you should have completed the Our Just Culture (Part 2) eLearning, which focused on developing our pharmacy team members’ practice of patient safety through the generation of SMART-ER actions.
The second ‘R’ in SMART-ER stands for revisiting, and now is the time to revisit your understanding of the eLearning. As part of the regular check-in process, your Patient Safety Champion will help you to revisit your understanding of the Our Just Culture eLearning, and will help you to develop SMART-ER actions based on any development needs identified.
Your Patient Safety Champion will also share with you this month’s Patient Safety Watch Out, which is centred around preventing the supply of a date-expired medicine(s) to patients, through following all of our date-checking processes.
UPDATE: Wholesale dealing - guidance notes for pharmacy team members |
A supplementary document, which provides guidance notes for pharmacy team members with regard to wholesale dealing, accompanies the printed version of The Professional Standard. Please ensure that you have read and understood this information.
UPDATE: Guidance for stores that are partially registered with the GPhC |
Following a review of opening hours earlier this year, many stores became partially registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC). This means that only part of the store is the legally registered pharmacy. As a result, we have produced updated guidance regarding partial registration.
If you work in a store(s) that is partially registered with the GPhC, please read the updated guidance, which is available on BootsLive: https://nsp.bootslive.co.uk/sites/bootslive/AllUKNonOpticianUsers/Pages/CPO---Patient-Safety-and-Governance.aspx
If your store is partially registered with the GPhC, a paper copy of the guidance is included with your printed version of The Professional Standard.
REMINDER: Responding appropriately to an emergency supply at the request of a patient |
When a patient presents in the pharmacy to request an emergency supply of a prescription only medicine(s), a pharmacist must determine whether there is an immediate need.
Legislation does not prevent a pharmacist from making an emergency supply when a doctor’s surgery is open. The best interests of the patient must be considered and, if the pharmacist believes that it would be impracticable in the circumstances for a patient to obtain a prescription without undue delay, they may decide that an emergency supply is needed. It may, therefore, not always be the most appropriate course of action to automatically refer a patient who is away from home and has forgotten their medication to a local GP surgery to register as a temporary patient, or contact NHS 111.
Guidance regarding the emergency supply of medication is available on BootsLive: https://nsp.bootslive.co.uk/sites/bootslive/AllUKNonOpticiansUsers/Pages/Emergency-Supply-of-Medication.aspx
REMINDER: Mandatory requirements for NHS commissioned services and CPPE Declaration of Competence (DoC) for Provision of Vaccination Services |
Pharmacy professionals are personally responsible for keeping their knowledge and skills up to date and relevant to their roles and responsibilities. All pharmacists delivering NHS commissioned services must complete and be able to evidence any associated mandatory training for each service. All pharmacists delivering NHS vaccination services in England are also required to complete the CPPE DoC at least once every two years to maintain service readiness. After completion of training, a copy of the ‘Statement of Declaration’ must be printed, signed and stored in each pharmacy that the pharmacist provides a vaccination service(s). This evidence must be available to produce as and when requested.
REMINDER: Using the correct intramuscular vaccination technique |
During a vaccination service consultation, you may be asked about ‘aspiration’. Aspiration is an historic vaccination technique where the syringe is aspirated by the vaccinator by drawing back on the plunger after the needle is introduced into the muscle.
The Green Book states: ‘It is not necessary to aspirate the syringe after the needle is introduced into the muscle’. You must always follow your Gateway to Pharmacy Services training to ensure that you use the correct vaccination technique.
If a customer asks for the syringe to be aspirated, then you should advise that it is not necessary to do so (as per guidance in The Green Book). If the customer is not willing to provide consent for the vaccine to be administered without ‘aspiration’, you should advise that you cannot proceed with the vaccination and, if appropriate, refer the customer to their GP.
COUNSEL CULTURE: Drug safety update - topiramate |
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has initiated a new safety review into topiramate as a result of an observational study reporting an increased risk of neurodevelopmental disabilities in children whose mothers took topiramate during pregnancy. Topiramate is known to be associated with an increased risk of congenital malformations and effects on foetal growth if used during pregnancy. The MHRA’s advice is to continue to counsel patients who can become pregnant on the known and emerging risks of topiramate for an unborn baby, and on the need to use effective contraception throughout its use. Further information and advice can be found on the MHRA’s website: https://www.gov.uk/drug-safety-update/topiramate-topamax-start-of-safety-review-triggered-by-a-study-reporting-an-increased-risk-of-neurodevelopmental-disabilities-in-children-with-prenatal-exposure
IMPORTANT: Dispensing the appropriate formulation of lisdexamfetamine dimesylate |
Lisdexamfetamine dimesylate (a Schedule 2 Controlled Drug) is licensed for the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). If a prescription has been written generically for lisdexamfetamine dimesylate hard capsules, it is the responsibility of the pharmacist to give the appropriately licensed product. Elvanse® is licensed for children and adolescent individuals aged between six and 17 years old; Elvanse Adult® is licensed for use in adults (i.e. those aged 18 years and over).
IMPORTANT: Returning totes to Alliance Healthcare |
There have been reports of prescriptions, EPS tokens and bags of dispensed items arriving at Alliance Healthcare depots in Alliance Healthcare totes. This presents a data risk and may also lead to a delay in supply of medication to the patient for whom the prescription is intended.
Please remember to check that totes are completely empty before stacking them for collection by the Alliance Healthcare driver. In addition, please ensure that the delivery labels (also known as ‘ABA labels’) are removed; leaving a delivery label with a tote can lead to misdirection of stock/DSP orders.