The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 277 No 7426 p571
11 November 2006

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· Pharmacy in Spain
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· Prescribing
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· Safety (2)
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Letters to the Editor

Community pharmacy

Drowning in paperwork

From Mr W. Y. Tang, MRPharmS

In the aftermath of a primary care trust inspection of a pharmacy where I regularly work, I was surprised by the amount of paperwork that is now expected under the new contract. There is a log for near misses, a log for self-care interventions, a log for pharmacy interventions, a log for referrals, a log for signposting queries, a log for over-the-counter advice, a log for pharmacy advice, and a malaria log. These are, of course, in addition to the Controlled Drugs register, cleaning and stock rotation logs, mandatory continuing professional development logs, and staff training and personal development logs.

Fortunately the pharmacy I work in is relatively quiet and I have time to sit down and fill in forms all day but I do wonder how my colleagues who work in busier pharmacies manage to cram it in. If the contract is moving towards more and more paperwork then surely this is the wrong direction in which to be headed. If PCTs need to check up on services provided and have evidence of these services then a mystery shopper approach or a no-notice spot check should be the way to achieve this. I would not be surprised if in a few years the contract demanded a bathroom-break log, a how-long-a-prescription-takes-to-be-prepared log and an ideas-for-new-things-to-be-logged log.

Wing Tang
London

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