1. Let’s talk medicines safety
You might think that your pharmacy is just a place to pick up prescriptions but pharmacies do much more than this. They provide a package of care, not just a packet of pills.

2. Home to a uniquely accessible workforce of healthcare professionals
84% of adults visit a pharmacy at least once a year
99% of the population can get to their local pharmacy within 20 minutes
People visit pharmacies x4 more frequently than they visit their GP
Community pharmacies are home to a uniquely accessible workforce of healthcare professional
84% of adults visit a pharmacy at least once a year
Community pharmacies are also very accessible and convenient - 99% of the population can get to their local pharmacy within 20 minutes and people visit pharmacies x4 more frequently than they visit their GP

3. All pharmacies in Wales provide these services:
Dispensing of Medicines
Repeat Dispensing
Waste Management
Signposting
Support for Self-Care
Clinical Governance
All pharmacies in Wales provide:
Dispensing of Medicines
Repeat Dispensing
Waste Management
Signposting
Support for Self-Care
Clinical Governance

4. Some pharmacies in Wales may also run the following services:
Discharge medicines review
Common Ailments Service
Stop smoking
Weight management
Flu and pneumococcal vaccination
Test and treat for chlamydia
Emergency Supply of Medicines
Emergency Hormonal Contraception
Syringe and Needle Exchange Services
Some pharmacies in Wales provide:
Discharge medicines review
Diabetes checks
Stop smoking
Weight management
Flu and pneumococcal vaccination
Test and treat for chlamydia
Health checks

5. The pharmacy team...
How many people are you aware of who work in the pharmacy?

6. The Pharmacist Regulation Qualification
All pharmacists must be registered with the regulator in order to practice
Maintain registration – annual
Operate within legal and ethical requirements
Ongoing professional development
4 year Master of Pharmacy degree course
1 year pre-registration training
Registration exam to register as practicing pharmacist
24 schools of pharmacy in UK
Pharmacists study at university for four years and then have a year ‘in practice’ before qualifying. They are the experts in the use of medicines for the treatment of disease. For services like allergy screening, pharmacists undergo additional approved training.

7. Pharmacy support staff
Mandatory training and registration with GPhC
Pharmacy technicians
Accuracy checking technicians
Dispensers
Pharmacy staff are required to undertake approved training to work in a pharmacy. They work under the direct supervision of a pharmacist.

8. Let’s talk medicines safety
At least 6% of emergency re-admissions to hospital are caused by avoidable adverse reactions to medicines
The pharmacy team carries out several safety steps before handing prescribed medicines to you.
Medicines have the power to harm as well as to heal. Used inappropriately, medicines can lead to hospitalisations, serious injury and even death. This includes prescribed medicines and medicines you can buy at a pharmacy or a shop.
A full and frank conversation with the pharmacist will help you get the most from your medicines and minimises the risk of harm.
When it comes to medicines that are prescribed for you, the pharmacy team carries out several safety steps before handing them to you. This includes a check by the pharmacist for clinic appropriateness (of the medicine type and dose) and a check that the dispensed product exactly matches the prescription.

9. Why do pharmacy staff ask so many questions?
Have you taken the medicine before?
Are you taking any other medication?
Why do pharmacy staff ask so many questions?
What are your symptoms?
Who is the medicine for?
The answer is simple... because medicines can harm as well as heal.
Questions like these may seem obvious to you, but pharmacy staff rely on the answers to make sure that the medicine they supply is suitable and safe. 
Hundreds of thousands of people each year are admitted to hospital due to adverse drug reactions and many more would be harmed without the questioning of pharmacy staff.
When pharmacy staff ask you who the medicine is for and whether you take other medicines, it’s because they need to be sure that their medicine is safe and appropriate for your use. This includes trying to avoid potentially harmful interactions with other medicines.

10. Give full and clear information, Demand full and clear advice!
Here are five simple tips about how to communicate effectively with your pharmacy team - to be extra safe with your medicines:
Feel free to ask your pharmacist anything at all about your medicines, your health and wellbeing; if it’s important to you it’s important to us. To be safer, it is better to reveal too much information than not enough, so bring up problems even if your doctor or pharmacist hasn’t asked about them.
Check with your doctor or pharmacist anything that is unclear about the explanations or advice they have given you; one way is to repeat what you think the pharmacist means in your own words and ask, “is this correct”? If you are still uncertain about anything when you get home, call to talk to the pharmacist or visit the pharmacy again.
If you think the medicines you have been supplied with, or the advice and instructions that have come with them, are not right for you, say so. The doctor or pharmacist will not be offended and should welcome the opportunity to reassure you, to clarify information, or to discuss alternatives.
If you are in the pharmacy to get treatment for a minor ailment, be clear about your symptoms – what exactly are they, how long have you had them, do they affect your daily activities? Answer any questions asked by pharmacy staff accurately and fully, so that the pharmacist can be sure that the medicine is safe for you and that your symptoms don’t indicate a serious underlying health problem.
If you want to talk to the pharmacist in more depth about your medicines, ask if you are eligible for one of our free of charge NHS medicines advice services, designed to help you get the most out of your medicines.

11. Let’s talk medicines safety
Invite questions….