Are your staff competent, and trained in safeguarding children and vulnerable adults?

Are you ready for your Inspection later this year?

Are you compliant with your Safeguarding Responsibilities?

The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) has developed new standards for registered pharmacies introducing new changes in pharmacy regulation, moving from a rules-based approach to one focusing on the achievement of results for patients.

They replace the interim standards for pharmacy owners and superintendent pharmacists of retail pharmacy businesses from 28 September 2012, and will have a full range of enforcement powers by October 2013.

These new standards are designed to strengthen the regulation of pharmacies and identify Safeguarding as a key responsibility in the 5 Key Principles.

To download a copy of the Standards document click below:

http://www.pharmacyregulation.org/sites/default/files/Council%20September%202012%20Standards%20for%20Registered%20Pharmacies.pdf

Your Pharmacy should:

Principle 1.

Have governance arrangements safeguard the health, safety and well being of patients and the public. Appropriate governance arrangements include having clear definitions of the roles and accountabilities of the people involved in providing and managing pharmacy services. It also includes the arrangements for managing risks, and the way the registered pharmacy is managed and operated and includes

1.8  Safeguarding Children and Vulnerable Adults.

Principle 2.

Staff are empowered and competent to safeguard the health, safety and well being of patients and the public.

The staff you employ and the people you work with are key to the safe and effective practice of pharmacy. Staff members, and anyone involved in providing pharmacy services, must be competent and empowered to safeguard the health, safety and well being of patients and the public in all that they do

2.1 There are enough staff, suitably qualified and skilled, for the safe and effective provision of the pharmacy services provided

For more information go to:

http://www.pharmacyregulation.org/standards/standards-registered-pharmacies

If you find difficulty in answering some of the below questions then Athena can help you.

• Do you know the common signs and symptoms of child sexual exploitation?
• Are children trafficked in your area?
• What Safeguarding Standards do GP’s and Dentists have to comply with?
• Do you know what to do if a patient is unable to make decisions i.e. lacks capacity?
• What is a care plan?
• What do you do if a relative tells you that inappropriate medication is being administered by a carer?
• What should you do if you become aware that a patient is suffering domestic abuse?

Please contact us know to find out how we can help you.

For more information please visit www.pharmacyregulation.org

QuiqCare is designed to assist organisations registered as Service Providers with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to comply with the Regulations by making the Essential standards of quality and safety an easily accessible everyday management tool.

The QuiqSolutions management team have over 30 years experience in delivering successful software solutions to the market, and have coupled this experience with leading-edge software design and industry knowledge to provide a scalable, modern, and above all user-friendly platform for its applications.

Please visit the below link to see our dedicated page to QuiqSolutions Ltd.

www.theathenaprogramme.co.uk/about-us/partnerships/quiqsolutions-ltd/

Volunteers will soon benefit from a free service which will allow them to re-use criminal records checks time and time again, the government announced today.

The move will cut red-tape and reduce the burden on those who give up their time to work with vulnerable groups.

Criminal records check

From early next year, millions of employees and volunteers will no longer have to apply for a new criminal records check each time they apply for a job.

Instead they will only have to apply once to the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) for a certificate and can then go online for an instant check to find out whether their existing certificate is still up to date.

This will avoid the need for individuals to apply for multiple checks to work with different organisations and volunteers will be able to use the service for free when they apply for different volunteering opportunities.

The change to the current system will also speed up the recruitment process for public and private sector employers, saving organisations time and money and making it easier for people to change jobs in the same sector (i.e. the NHS) while ensuring robust safeguarding measures are in place.

For more information go to:

http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/media-centre/news/portable-crb-checks

The Minister has given the green light for work on the system to begin in early 2013, and it will start to be introduced to NHS hospitals in 2015.

Doctors and nurses using the system in emergency departments or urgent care centres will be able to see if the children they treat:

• are subject to a child protection plan or being looked after – which means they have already been identified by the authorities as being at risk; and
• have frequently attended emergency departments or urgent care centres over a period of time  – which can be an indication of neglect or abuse.

 For more information go to:

http://mediacentre.dh.gov.uk/2012/12/27/doctors-and-nurses-to-help-protect-vulnerable-children/

Care Talk Magazine – December 2012 – January 2013

Please click on the link  to see the article: www.communitycare.co.uk/Articles/07/11/2012/118674/care-home-managers-must-make-safeguarding-everyones-business.htm

Please click on the link to see the article:Nursing & Residential Care November 2012

www.acevo.org.uk