Category: Handling complaints and patient safety

Learn about handling complaints, reporting patient safety incidents, and maintaining compliance with pharmacy regulations.

Handling complaints and patient safety Pharmacist and technician responsibilities Pharmacy inspections and enforcement Safe dispensing practices

Self-checking dispensed prescriptions

Self-checking occurs when the same pharmacy professional assembles a prescribed medicine and subsequently carries out its final accuracy check.

Using a different competent person to undertake the final accuracy check provides an additional degree of independence. However, neither medicines legislation nor the General Pharmaceutical Council’s standards establish an absolute requirement that two different people must be involved in every dispensing process.

Self-checking is therefore not automatically unlawful. Nevertheless, it removes an independent opportunity to identify an error and should be treated as a dispensing risk that must be appropriately assessed and managed.

Handling complaints and patient safety Pharmacist and technician responsibilities Pharmacy premises standards Safe dispensing practices

Accuracy Checks in Pharmacy

An accuracy check is a critical step in the dispensing process, ensuring that the medicine supplied matches the prescription exactly. While often viewed as a technical process, it carries significant legal and professional responsibility.

In UK pharmacy practice, accuracy checking is not explicitly defined in legislation, but it is required in practice through legal accountability, professional standards, and patient safety obligations.

There is no explicit reference in primary legislation requiring an “accuracy check” as a defined step.

Handling complaints and patient safety Pharmacist and technician responsibilities Safe dispensing practices

Clinical Checks in Pharmacy

Clinical checks are a core legal and professional responsibility for pharmacists. They are not optional or purely procedural—they are fundamental to ensuring medicines are supplied safely and appropriately. In UK practice, this duty is underpinned by professional standards from the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC), alongside wider legal frameworks governing safe medicines use.

Pharmacists must ensure that any medicine supplied is clinically appropriate for the individual patient. This obligation arises from:

Failure to carry out an adequate clinical check may result in a dispensing error, which can lead to regulatory action, including fitness to practise proceedings.

Equality and data protection Handling complaints and patient safety Pharmacist and technician responsibilities

Safeguarding in Pharmacy

Safeguarding is a core responsibility for pharmacy professionals. Pharmacists and pharmacy teams have a legal, professional, and ethical duty to protect children and vulnerable adults from abuse or neglect, while also respecting patient confidentiality.

Balancing these duties requires careful judgement, supported by legislation and professional standards.

Safeguarding responsibilities in pharmacy arise from several key pieces of legislation:

Handling complaints and patient safety Pharmacist and technician responsibilities Pharmacy premises standards Record-keeping requirements Safe dispensing practices

Dispensing Errors and Near Misses

Dispensing errors and near misses are an inherent risk within pharmacy practice. Managing these incidents appropriately is essential to protect patients, maintain public trust, and comply with legal and professional requirements.

Pharmacists and pharmacy teams must operate within a culture of openness, learning, and continuous improvement, ensuring that errors are addressed promptly and used to strengthen systems of care.

A dispensing error occurs when a medicine is supplied to a patient that is:

Handling complaints and patient safety Pharmacist and technician responsibilities Safe dispensing practices

Adverse Drug Reactions and the Yellow Card Scheme: Responsibilities for UK Pharmacy Professionals

Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are a significant cause of patient harm and represent an important area of professional responsibility for pharmacy teams. In the UK, the reporting of suspected ADRs is primarily carried out through the Yellow Card Scheme, operated by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

Pharmacists play a key role in identifying, managing, and reporting ADRs to support national pharmacovigilance and patient safety.

Pharmacovigilance in the UK is governed by the
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2012/1916/contents
(Human Medicines Regulations 2012).

Controlled drugs Handling complaints and patient safety Pharmacist and technician responsibilities Pharmacy inspections and enforcement Pharmacy premises standards Record-keeping requirements Remote and online pharmacy services Safe dispensing practices

Online Pharmacies and Remote Prescribing

The growth of online prescribing and distance-selling pharmacy services has introduced significant risks around the safe and appropriate supply of medicines. In response, the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) has strengthened its regulatory expectations for pharmacies operating remotely, particularly where prescribing is carried out online.

Pharmacy owners, superintendent pharmacists, and responsible pharmacists must ensure that any supply made through an online model meets both legal requirements and professional standards.

Registered pharmacies in Great Britain are regulated by the General Pharmaceutical Council under the Pharmacy Order 2010, which gives the GPhC enforcement powers over pharmacy owners, superintendent pharmacists, and pharmacy professionals.

Controlled drugs Handling complaints and patient safety Pharmacist and technician responsibilities Poisons and hazardous substances

Medicines and Driving (Drug Driving Law)

Medicines can affect a person’s ability to drive safely. UK law creates two separate drug driving offences, both of which may apply to patients taking prescribed or over-the-counter medicines.

The law is primarily set out in the Road Traffic Act 1988:

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/52/section/4