Our Inspections
How we conduct our inspections
Our inspections just like the GPhC visit are unannounced , meaning pharmacies will not receive advance notice. This approach allows inspectors to observe how a pharmacy operates under normal day to day conditions.
Inspectors gather evidence through a range of activities including
-reviewing written documentation and records
-observing interactions between staff and patients
-asking staff questions or presenting scenarios
-testing systems, processes and procedures
To be registered with the GPhC a pharmacy must meet the following five principles:
-The governance arrangements safeguard the health, safety and wellbeing of patients and the public
-Staff are empowered and competent to safeguard the health, safety and wellbeing of patients and the public
-The environment and conditions of the premises from which pharmacy services are provided safeguard the health, safety and wellbeing of patients and the public
-The way in which pharmacy services are delivered safeguard the health, safety and wellbeing of patients and the public
-The equipment and facilities used in the provision of pharmacy services safeguard the health, safety and wellbeing of patients
We inspect premises checking whether they are in line with the above five principles. Once the inspection is complete the pharmacy will receive an overall outcome of either :
Standard met (The pharmacy has met all the standards for registered pharmacies)
or
Standard not all met (This means the pharmacy has not met one or more of the standards for registered pharmacies)
A score of 90% and above will be considered a pass and any score below 90% will be a fail.
What happens if standards are not met?
If the inspector finds that standards are not met and the pharmacy has failed an inspection, the pharmacy must follow an improvement action plan. A follow up inspection is typically scheduled within 3 months . These visits too will be unannounced and will be a full inspection and not just focussing on areas that need improvements
It is the duty of the superintendents and owners of the companies to ensure that improvements are made to provide safe and efficient pharmacy services
Our inspections guarantee you at least a satisfactory across the GphC standards once our action plans have been implemented for a period of one year after the mock inspection.
A number of companies we have worked with have achieved a good rating in the GPhC inspections. If you would like to achieve the best from your GPhC inspection please contact the Pharmaspot Inspection Services office today to book your inspection.
Pricing
The cost of our services is £500/day per branch inspection. Each inspection can take anything between 4- 8 hours. Our inspections are usually completed in a day but in rare cases we might have to do two days of inspection.
Each inspection will come with
-a full comprehensive report of our findings
-pictures of evidence found in branches
We go the extra mile.....
We do more than just an inspection. When we turn up for an inspection and notice any issues that can be corrected instantly we make sure the changes are made before we leave. We follow up on critical matters afterwards. We have clients that ask us to take shop pictures of stock and check if certain processes are being done including mystery shopping . We are more than happy to help!
End of month paperwork
We not only come and inspect the premises according to the pharmacy standards. We bring to light any matters that require addressing to management. End of month had not been done. The manager had fallen sick and no one was allocated the task and therefore it was left undone. We notified the company and the matter was resolved
The State of a CD register
The above is one of the CD registers we found during our inspections. This was not an isolated incident, we found many branches harbouring tattered records. The records could not survive their days of use and had no fighting chance of being kept for a further 2 years after the register was finished. We brought the matter to the companies' attention and some of our clients has since moved to electronic CD registers.
Blue Rxs
Over 50 Blue Rxs found without the proper endorsements. It means the company was losing money. We all know that pharmacy profit margin are very small and every little effort counts
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