Pharmacy First
The new Pharmacy First Service launched in England on 31st January. It’s the most significant change to community pharmacy practice in the last decade.
Suitably trained pharmacists can, if appropriate, provide medication for seven common conditions which will relieve pressure on their GP colleagues by freeing up an estimated 10 million appointments a year. It’s an exciting opportunity for pharmacy professionals to demonstrate to patients, the public, and other stakeholders the value that community pharmacy can bring.
Quite rightly, there has been a lot of focus on upskilling pharmacists and their teams to provide the service. But how much thought has gone into the impact on risk assessments and clinical governance?
Does anything need to change in your pharmacy? Here’s a few things you might want to consider:
GPhC guidance on providing services at a distance requires all pharmacies to have a risk assessment in place. How robust is yours? What new risks does Pharmacy First bring for your pharmacy? Have you captured them all?
What worries do your team have about the service? How can you allay or mitigate them?
Are all the identified risks captured in your SOP or are you using a generic one? If you are then does it mirror what happens in your pharmacy?
Will Pharmacy First impact on any of your other SOPs?
How soon after the implementation of the service will you review your SOP? It’s a good idea to have a short review date (3 – 6 months) which you can tweak if needed.
Have you reviewed your team’s skill mix and competence against the GPhC’s guidance on Safe and Effective Pharmacy Teams?
How will you include any incidents in your regular patient safety review?
