- Dispensing medicines to patients or their carers to make sure they receive clearly and correctly labelled medicines and understand how and when to use and how to store the prescribed medicines and to ensure the safe and effective use of the product. This process involved:
1. Professional and clinical reviewing the prescription:
- Assess the prescribed dosage to ensure it is safe and appropriate
- Review patient’s specific factors: age, allergies and other health conditions, pregnancy/lactation
- Evaluation of the legal requirements set by the General Pharmaceutical Council
2. Dispensing
- Selection of products (appropriate drug, brand, strength, form, quantity and repacking if needed (non-standard quantity)
- Dispensing check: correct drug, brand, strength, form, quantity correct formula/methodology for compounded products
3. Suppling prescription to patients/carers: Re-check:
- Correct patient and medicines election of products (appropriate drug, brand, strength, form, quantity and repacking if needed (non-standard quantity)
4. Counselling patients or their carers to ensure they have sufficient information to enable an understanding of their medicines and the intended therapeutic effect
- Liaising with doctors in the situations where the prescriber should be contacted regarding prescribing issues
- Undertaking Medicine Use Reviews (MUR) and NMS (New Medicine Service) to help patients understand about their current or new treatment, respectively.
- Keeping up to date with current pharmacy practice, attending workshops and completing CPD (Continuing Professional Development)
- Carrying out consultations with patients in a private consultation area or over the counter, to diagnose and treat common ailments and diseases in adults, children and the elderly
- Daily dispensing and supervision of treatment of drug misuse (methadone and buprenorphine)
- Keeping a register of controlled drugs for legal and stock control purposes
- Preparing dose administration aids (DAA) for the elderly and those with memory/ learning difficulties
- Managing needle and syringe exchange, measuring and fitting compression hosiery
- Monitoring blood pressure and cholesterol level and diabetes screening service
- Stop smoking service
- Emergency contraception service
- Provision and supervision of "Over the Counter" and "P-medicines" sales