Empowering you to meet regulatory and best practice requirements

Single item flow: With new dispensing support systems introducing new ways of working in our pharmacies, it is important that we continue to adhere to the processes, maintain clear work benches and avoid distractions. At any time in the labelling or bagging stages, only ONE pack should be handled at a time - we call this 'single item flow’. 

ADDD and Scan to Accuracy Check are designed around a 'single item flow’ so as to maintain safety and accuracy. As a reminder, a video demonstrating ‘single item flow’ is available on BootsLive.

The Core Dispensing SOPs have been updated to reflect the new processes – please only complete these new SOPs once you receive your 'T-5 weeks to go-live' notification. In the meantime, continue to follow the current SOPs, which will remain on the store’s pharmacy team members’ MyHub accounts.

Lines unsuitable for dispensing: A number of lines are not suitable for dispensing through automation and have been excluded centrally. This includes items that are too large to fit in an ADDD numbered location, such as baby milk and nutritional supplement drinks, as well as items that require manual adaption before supply, e.g. those that require reconstitution. Due to new products being released and changes to existing lines by manufacturers, there may be a need to exclude additional lines on occasion. A form entitled ‘ADDD form’ has been created and added to the ‘Single Sign-On’ bookmark on dispensary PCs – this form enables pharmacy team members to flag to our central teams any items that should be excluded; please complete the form if you become aware of such an item.    

Reminder of the documents to be given to the traveller at the end of a consultation: Every traveller must be given their Consultation Summary and a copy of the leaflet entitled: ‘Tips to help keep you healthy on your trip’. These are available to print from the final screen in the KnowMalaria app customer journey. Travellers have a lot of information to absorb during their consultation, so it is essential to share the leaflet for their reference. The leaflet is regularly updated and provides helpful information regarding Non-Vaccine Preventable Diseases which may not have been covered during the consultation. The Consultation Summary details any vaccinations and antimalarial medication received and the dates when further vaccinations may be due. It is recommended that the traveller shares a copy of the Consultation Summary with their GP surgery so that their records can be updated. Please note that, as customers are accessing an IMA service, they should also be given a copy of the Patient Guide.

Yellow Fever Vaccination Centre (YFVC) Admin Lead: Every YFVC MUST have a nominated store-based pharmacist or nurse YFVC Admin Lead. The name of the appointed lead can be found on the KnowMalaria app homepage. Pharmacists and nurses should ensure that the information displayed is accurate and up to date. If there is no store-based YFVC Admin Lead in place, then the store MUST NOT offer Yellow Fever vaccinations, and the Store Manager must identify a new store-based YFVC Admin Lead and contact pharmacy.service.centres@boots.co.uk to notify them of the new YFVC Admin Lead for the store. Only when the new lead is in place can the team resume offering Yellow Fever vaccinations. 

The Pharmacy Helpdesk team is looking for your feedback! They are continually seeking to improve the service they provide and would welcome any thoughts and feedback on previous experiences to enable them to better support pharmacy team members. Please spare a few minutes to complete the survey, which is available here.