The annual autumn conference of the Institute of Pharmacy Management International was this year held on November 5 as a joint meeting with the Australian Institute of Pharmacy Management, which had organised a 12-day visit to Britain combining conference sessions and fact-finding visits with social and sporting events
A community pharmacy accreditation system accepted by Australia's state governments as an alternative to International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) accreditation was described to the pharmacy management conference by Mr Kos Sclavos (chairman, AIPM). He said that he could see a real opportunity for United Kingdom pharmacies to develop a similar programme.
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Kos Sclavos: an opportunity for the UK too? |
Pharmacy had decided to develop its own accreditation system because ISO accreditation was expensive (A$8,000) and did not necessarily benefit health outcomes. The cost of the QCP programme was one-fifth that of ISO accreditation but, said Mr Sclavos, it had 50 times the value. In addition, the programme had been developed with outcomes in mind, whereas ISO was concerned with processes.
Among aspects of quality covered by the programme were access to premises (including disabled access), range of medication available, ambience, procedures for dealing with emergencies, the pharmacist's personal involvement, value, service and strength of affiliation (including systems for referral to doctors and emergency services).
Participants had to comply with a range of business and practice standards. A reference manual was provided as an optional tool to assist in compliance. The standards had to be accessible to all members of staff, and every staff member had to have a job description and complete a workbook to show that they understood the standards.
Compliance with standards was policed by a team of 26 auditors, who would witness the shopping experience, examine workbooks, job descriptions and other documents, and question all the staff on their comprehension of the standards. An audit cost the pharmacy owner A$400.
The QCP programme had been implemented fully only six months ago, after tests of a prototype developed from a study of customer needs. Only 130 pharmacies had been accredited so far, but every one of them had seen benefits. One group of six friendly society pharmacies had reported a turnover increase of 40 per cent.
The programme had the support of the main wholesaling groups and was sponsored by a number of pharmaceutical companies.
Other subjects discussed include:
The pharmacist as vending machine
Keeping it simple in improving business performance
Should new non-NHS drugs be P?