THE Pharmacy Council of NSW (PCNSW) is encouraging proprietor pharmacists to understand the importance of having oversight of their business to ensure safe healthcare delivery to the public.
Shweta Kumar, Professional Officer with the Pharmacy Council, and Caroline Diamantis, PCNSW member, Vice President of the NSW branch of the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia and a community pharmacist with more than 30 years of pharmacy ownership share in the Council's latest podcast that anything that happens in your pharmacy when "you are an owner, you have the government licence then you are the person responsible, and you cannot delegate that responsibility".
Diamantis advises that high risk medications need to be "under lock and key at all times...I keep my finger on the pulse with very good technology that allows me to dial in from home and get a bird's eye view of what's going on".
"I highly recommend that people have an electronic drug book to check activity, those handwritten ones are a thing of the past."
Diamantis does a stocktake every month instead of just twice a year.
"Picking up mistakes is easier, and all significant work and scripts need to be signed, allowing me to further elaborate on staff training."
Dose Administration Aids is a "landmine with numerous moving parts and communication is key".
"If you are owing scripts but are still packing medications, the regulators won't be happy.
"Start off by alerting both the doctor and the patient two months ahead on email that the script is running out and get a list off your computer on low scripts."
The above article was sent to subscribers in Pharmacy Daily's issue from 12 Jul 23
To see the full newsletter, see the embedded issue below or CLICK HERE to download Pharmacy Daily from 12 Jul 23
