This week, the PDA has sent a copy of the Charter commitments and a Safer Pharmacies Charter window decal to every registered pharmacy in the UK, which invites pharmacy operators to place the decal in their pharmacy window and show patients that they support the safety standards featured in the Charter.
The decal directs patients to visit the saferpharmacies.org website which is designed to raise patient awareness of the important medicines-related safety work being undertaken by pharmacists.
According to PDA Chairman Mark Koziol:
“It is important that the public recognise that pharmacies are healthcare facilities and that pharmacists are involved in the important role of ensuring their safety and that of their family.
We want members of the public to measure the quality of their community pharmacy service not by the speed at which they receive their dispensed medicine, but by the standard of care from staff and the clinical input of the pharmacist.
We are letting patients know that whilst doctors are the experts in diagnosis, pharmacists are the experts in medicines and that keeping patients safe is a key role of the pharmacist.
The decal once affixed to the front window of the pharmacy will hopefully encourage patients to browse the www.saferpharmacies.org website where they can learn about the various interconnected components focussed upon patient safety which are operating in a community pharmacy as a centre of professional activity.
As well as making the public more aware of the important role of the pharmacist, we also believe that this initiative will help community pharmacy to continue to improve patient safety.”
Right Medicine Pharmacy Group in Scotland is among those pharmacies that have already confirmed their support for this initiative and that they will meet the Safer Pharmacy Charter standards:
“Right Medicine Pharmacy are delighted to sign up to an initiative that celebrates the fact that patient safety must be at the very heart of the Community Pharmacy service.”
Noel Wicks – Chief Executive, Right Medicine Pharmacy Group
Another pharmacy committed to displaying the charter sign is the Priory Pharmacy in Dudley, West Midlands:
“Having attended the launch of this initiative in Parliament, I am delighted to be able to display this decal in my pharmacy window to publicly show that my pharmacy supports the principles of patient safety that this initiative advocates.”
Olutayo Arikawe – Priory Pharmacy Superintendent
The PDA hope that many more pharmacies from single pharmacist independents to leading multiples will also be prepared to show publicly that they too meet the Charter standards and are proud to display the charter decal.
The Safer Pharmacies Charter was launched at a reception at the House of Commons on 5th December 2017 (learn more). Since the launch of the Charter, the PDA has been lobbying employers and other stakeholder organisations, meeting regularly to discuss this issue with both the GPhC and the PSNI, as well as undertaking annual safety surveys (learn more) to check how practice compares to the charter standards.
The results of the PDA’s 2019 patient safety survey will be revealed at the PDA National Conference, ‘Shaping the Future: Overcoming the Challenges to Seize the Opportunities’, which takes place in Birmingham on 28th and 29th March (learn more).
Olutayo Arikawe, Superintendent, Priory Pharmacy and Noel Wicks, Chief Executive, Right Medicine Pharmacy Group
The Safer Pharmacies Charter featured in the February 2020 issue of Insight Magazine that PDA members will receive through the post this week.
Read the insight magazine article here
