The community pharmacy industry remains heavily regulated in Australia as most of us in the industry believe it should be. In every case, rules are there for a reason and though we know the rules sometimes some of us simply ignore them.
Here in Australia, the Victoria Pharmacy Authority (VPA) recently released the following details from recent cases.
- A pharmacist was cautioned for failure to comply to good pharmaceutical practice; the dispensary was not maintained as a private area with medicine privacy not being maintained. The dispensary was in fact being used to store staff belongings (near to medicines) and a staff meals area.
- A pharmacist was reprimanded and ordered to submit quarterly audit for poor record keeping in relation to Schedule 8 drugs and incorrect procedures in use for the disposal of unwanted medicines.
Whilst both cases seem minor in nature the outcomes remind us why a pharmacy needs to follows regulations and have suitable procedures in place. Both cases could easily have been avoided with better management and strict coherence with the regulations.
No matter where you are in the world in the pharmacy industry the regulations are in place to maintain patient safety and to ensure the effective delivery of health solutions. Be diligent, vigilant and committed to best practice so we don’t need to hear cases such as the above!