Pharmacy emergency planning guidance published
Guidance on how to keep pharmacy services running in an emergency was published this week.
Drawn up by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, the Pharmaceutical Services
Negotiating Committee and Community Pharmacy Wales, the document says
that fire and flood are the most likely problems that community pharmacies
might face, but that other risks include power, water or gas failures,
theft or failure of equipment or accessibility problems.
The 21-page document explains the concept of a service delivery plan.
It says that a service continuity plan should describe how a pharmacy
intends to reinstate its critical operations, infrastructure, stores
and equipment from a range of situations. It should specify necessary
resources, key contact lists and clear procedures that will need to be
followed by any member of staff.
Peter Jones, vice-chairman of CPW and chairman of the Society’s
Welsh Executive, said: “In an emergency, access to patient records,
medicines, medical equipment, financial papers, computers and even the
actual pharmacy itself can become instantly impossible. Although the
new guidance is intentionally generic, and individual pharmacies will
need to tailor it to fit their own specific requirements, once done we
are confident it will be an invaluable tool for many pharmacy managers,
including those that are located in isolated or rural areas.”
The guidance is to be made available on the Society’s website |
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