4 November 2014
During an inspection looking at part of the service
A focused inspection to follow up on concerns about the practice was carried out on 04 November 2014.
Our key findings were as follows:
- The provider had appropriate arrangements in place for the management of medicines.
- Medicines stored in the dispensary were under the control of qualified dispensary staff during opening hours. However, there was no door separating the dispensary area from the rest of the practice. Medicines could therefore be accessed by non-clinical staff and unauthorised people even when the dispensary was closed. Controlled drugs were stored appropriately and access restricted to qualified dispensary staff. Controlled drugs are medicines that the law requires are stored in a special cupboard and their use recorded in a special register.
- Blank prescription forms were left in printer trays overnight and when consulting rooms were unoccupied. These could therefore be accessible to unauthorised people and used fraudulently to obtain medicines.
- There was a comprehensive range of standard operating procedures for staff to follow and these had recently been reviewed and updated.
- Dispensing staff working at the practice had received training to undertake dispensing tasks. We saw evidence that dispensary staff had annual appraisals of their performance.
There were also areas of practice where the provider needs to make improvements.