General Pharmaceutical Council
Local Authority / Fire Service
Noted
The GPhC acknowledges receipt of the concern regarding Orchard 2000 Pharmacy and provides context about its role as a regulator of pharmacy professionals and premises, but does not describe any specific actions taken or planned in response to the concern. (AI summary)
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Sent: Wed Aug 16 2023 11:26:27 BST Subject: General Pharmaceutical Council CAS-21012-J9Q7F8 Outcome of concern
Caution - This email was sent from outside of our organisation. Do not click on any links, preview or open any attachments, or provide any log-in details unless you recognise the sender and know the content is safe. ,
Thank you for contacting us with your concern about Orchard 2000 Pharmacy which we received on 10 July 2023.
We are grateful for you having shared this matter with us, as it has provided important information about what is happening in pharmacy practice.
Who we are and what we do As you may be aware, the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) is the regulator for pharmacy professionals and registered pharmacy premises in Great Britain. The GPhC can consider concerns which indicate that a pharmacist or pharmacy technician may not to be fit to practise. Fitness to practise is about someone having the required skills, knowledge, character and health to do their job safely and effectively. A pharmacy professional may not be fit to practise for a number of reasons, for example, if their behaviour is putting patients at risk, they are practising in an unsafe way, or their health may be affecting their ability to make safe judgements about their patients. Not every concern which people tell us about, no matter how justified, will be something that is serious enough to call into question a pharmacy professional’s fitness to practise. In addition, not all those who work within a pharmacy company, such as delivery drivers, are required to be registered professionals, and our role only covers individuals who are registered pharmacists or pharmacy technicians. In relation to pharmacy premises, we have a team of Inspectors who make sure that pharmacies and their systems are being run properly, and that their staff are appropriately trained. If issues are identified, action can be taken to put things right. Our decision about your concern Within your concern you told us about issues in relation to an incident involving a delivery driver for the pharmacy leaving a patient unattended who had injured themselves after a fall. This matter relates to pharmacy support staff. The roles and responsibilities of pharmacy support staff, such as delivery drivers, will be defined by the pharmacy. They, however, must be suitably qualified for the roles that they do. GPhC requirements for the education and training of pharmacy support staff, includes being able to recognise and raise appropriate safeguarding concerns, particularly involving vulnerable adults. However, delivery drivers would not be expected to receive training specifically with how to manage a situation where a service-user has had a fall at home, and would also not normally enter patient’s homes. From what has been described to us, on this occasion it does appear that there has been a failure to safeguard a vulnerable service-user. As the issues you have raised fall more into the category of how the pharmacy is being operated, we have referred the matter to our local Inspector who covers this particular pharmacy. They will assess the risks posed by the issues you have described, and determine what follow- up action may be appropriate. The Inspector will also factor this information into their decision-making
You don't often get email from concerns@pharmacyregulation.org. Learn why this is important
around the timing of any inspections for this pharmacy, and what the focus of any inspection activity ought to include. The role of our Inspectors is to ensure that the systems and processes within pharmacies meet our standards for registered pharmacies, including the skills and competence of the staff working there. If we find problems, we will ensure improvements are made. We will also be writing to the Superintendent pharmacist (SI) for the pharmacy, to remind them that it is their responsibility to ensure that the training and competencies of support staff are in accordance with the requirements outlined earlier. We will also keep your concern in our records because we may need to consider it if we get any further concerns about the pharmacy. Thank you again for raising this concern with us; it is very helpful to have this information. It would be very helpful if you could tell us about how you feel we have dealt with this concern. If you would like to do so, please fill in the feedback survey at:
Kind regards
Assessment Officer Concerns General Pharmaceutical Council 25 Canada Square | Canary Wharf | London |E14 5LQ
We got silver in Mind’s workplace wellbeing index This email and any attachments are confidential, may contain information that is privileged and protected by copyright. If you are not the intended recipient, dissemination or copying of this email is prohibited. If you have received this in error, please notify the sender by replying by email and then delete the email completely from your system. Where the content of this email is personal or otherwise unconnected with the organisation's business, the General Pharmaceutical Council accepts no responsibility or liability for such content. Internet email may be susceptible to data corruption, interception and unauthorised amendment over which we have no control. Whilst sweeping all outgoing email for viruses, we do not accept liability for the presence of any computer viruses in this email or any losses caused as a result of viruses.
Concerns General Pharmaceutical Council Level 14, One Cabot Square | Canary Wharf | London |E14 4QJ Email: concerns@pharmacyregulation.or
g
g This email and any attachments are confidential, may contain information that is privileged and protected by copyright. If you are not the intended recipient, dissemination or copying of this email is prohibited. If you have received this in error, please notify the sender by replying by email and then delete the email completely from your system. Where the content of this email is personal or otherwise unconnected with the organisation's business, the General Pharmaceutical Council accepts no responsibility or liability for such content. Internet email may be susceptible to data corruption, interception and unauthorised amendment over which we have no control. Whilst sweeping all outgoing email for viruses, we do not accept liability for the presence of any computer viruses in this email or any losses caused as a result of viruses.
Caution - This email was sent from outside of our organisation. Do not click on any links, preview or open any attachments, or provide any log-in details unless you recognise the sender and know the content is safe. ,
Thank you for contacting us with your concern about Orchard 2000 Pharmacy which we received on 10 July 2023.
We are grateful for you having shared this matter with us, as it has provided important information about what is happening in pharmacy practice.
Who we are and what we do As you may be aware, the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) is the regulator for pharmacy professionals and registered pharmacy premises in Great Britain. The GPhC can consider concerns which indicate that a pharmacist or pharmacy technician may not to be fit to practise. Fitness to practise is about someone having the required skills, knowledge, character and health to do their job safely and effectively. A pharmacy professional may not be fit to practise for a number of reasons, for example, if their behaviour is putting patients at risk, they are practising in an unsafe way, or their health may be affecting their ability to make safe judgements about their patients. Not every concern which people tell us about, no matter how justified, will be something that is serious enough to call into question a pharmacy professional’s fitness to practise. In addition, not all those who work within a pharmacy company, such as delivery drivers, are required to be registered professionals, and our role only covers individuals who are registered pharmacists or pharmacy technicians. In relation to pharmacy premises, we have a team of Inspectors who make sure that pharmacies and their systems are being run properly, and that their staff are appropriately trained. If issues are identified, action can be taken to put things right. Our decision about your concern Within your concern you told us about issues in relation to an incident involving a delivery driver for the pharmacy leaving a patient unattended who had injured themselves after a fall. This matter relates to pharmacy support staff. The roles and responsibilities of pharmacy support staff, such as delivery drivers, will be defined by the pharmacy. They, however, must be suitably qualified for the roles that they do. GPhC requirements for the education and training of pharmacy support staff, includes being able to recognise and raise appropriate safeguarding concerns, particularly involving vulnerable adults. However, delivery drivers would not be expected to receive training specifically with how to manage a situation where a service-user has had a fall at home, and would also not normally enter patient’s homes. From what has been described to us, on this occasion it does appear that there has been a failure to safeguard a vulnerable service-user. As the issues you have raised fall more into the category of how the pharmacy is being operated, we have referred the matter to our local Inspector who covers this particular pharmacy. They will assess the risks posed by the issues you have described, and determine what follow- up action may be appropriate. The Inspector will also factor this information into their decision-making
You don't often get email from concerns@pharmacyregulation.org. Learn why this is important
around the timing of any inspections for this pharmacy, and what the focus of any inspection activity ought to include. The role of our Inspectors is to ensure that the systems and processes within pharmacies meet our standards for registered pharmacies, including the skills and competence of the staff working there. If we find problems, we will ensure improvements are made. We will also be writing to the Superintendent pharmacist (SI) for the pharmacy, to remind them that it is their responsibility to ensure that the training and competencies of support staff are in accordance with the requirements outlined earlier. We will also keep your concern in our records because we may need to consider it if we get any further concerns about the pharmacy. Thank you again for raising this concern with us; it is very helpful to have this information. It would be very helpful if you could tell us about how you feel we have dealt with this concern. If you would like to do so, please fill in the feedback survey at:
Kind regards
Assessment Officer Concerns General Pharmaceutical Council 25 Canada Square | Canary Wharf | London |E14 5LQ
We got silver in Mind’s workplace wellbeing index This email and any attachments are confidential, may contain information that is privileged and protected by copyright. If you are not the intended recipient, dissemination or copying of this email is prohibited. If you have received this in error, please notify the sender by replying by email and then delete the email completely from your system. Where the content of this email is personal or otherwise unconnected with the organisation's business, the General Pharmaceutical Council accepts no responsibility or liability for such content. Internet email may be susceptible to data corruption, interception and unauthorised amendment over which we have no control. Whilst sweeping all outgoing email for viruses, we do not accept liability for the presence of any computer viruses in this email or any losses caused as a result of viruses.
Concerns General Pharmaceutical Council Level 14, One Cabot Square | Canary Wharf | London |E14 4QJ Email: concerns@pharmacyregulation.or
g
g This email and any attachments are confidential, may contain information that is privileged and protected by copyright. If you are not the intended recipient, dissemination or copying of this email is prohibited. If you have received this in error, please notify the sender by replying by email and then delete the email completely from your system. Where the content of this email is personal or otherwise unconnected with the organisation's business, the General Pharmaceutical Council accepts no responsibility or liability for such content. Internet email may be susceptible to data corruption, interception and unauthorised amendment over which we have no control. Whilst sweeping all outgoing email for viruses, we do not accept liability for the presence of any computer viruses in this email or any losses caused as a result of viruses.