Community
Pharmacist
A community pharmacist is the
professional who would be in direct access to the public and whose duties are
widely sought after by the public and patients. He dispenses medicines with a
prescription and in certain cases without a prescription where applicable (OTC
drugs).
professional who would be in direct access to the public and whose duties are
widely sought after by the public and patients. He dispenses medicines with a
prescription and in certain cases without a prescription where applicable (OTC
drugs).
Community pharmacists also sell over-the-counter medical
products and instruct patients on the use of medicines and medical appliances.
Some pharmacists will also offer specialist health checks, such as blood
pressure monitoring and diabetes screening, run stop smoking clinics, weight
reduction programmes and are able to prescribe as well as dispense medicines.
products and instruct patients on the use of medicines and medical appliances.
Some pharmacists will also offer specialist health checks, such as blood
pressure monitoring and diabetes screening, run stop smoking clinics, weight
reduction programmes and are able to prescribe as well as dispense medicines.
Community pharmacists work in high street
pharmacies, supermarkets, local healthcare centres and GP surgeries.
pharmacies, supermarkets, local healthcare centres and GP surgeries.
Typical Work Activities
Community pharmacists work in customer-facing roles and
provide an increasing range of services. Typical work activities include:
provide an increasing range of services. Typical work activities include:
- dispensing
prescription medicines to the public; - ensuring
that different treatments are compatible; - checking
dosage and ensuring that medicines are correctly and safely supplied and
labelled (pharmacists are legally responsible for any dispensing errors); - supervising
the preparation of any medicines (not all are supplied ready made-up by
the manufacturer); - keeping
a register of controlled drugs for legal and stock control purposes; - liaising
with doctors about prescriptions; - selling
over-the-counter medicines; - counselling
and advising the public on the treatment of minor ailments; - advising
patients of any adverse side-effects of medicines or potential
interactions with other medicines/treatments; - preparing
dosette and cassette boxes, usually for the elderly but also for those
with memory/learning difficulties, where tablets are placed in
compartments for specified days of the week; - undertaking
Medicine Use Reviews (MUR), an advanced service to help patients
understand how their medicines work and why they have to take them; - providing
a prescription intervention service; - managing
a needle and syringe exchange; - measuring
and fitting compression hosiery; - monitoring
blood pressure and cholesterol levels; - offering
a diabetes screening service; - arranging
the delivery of prescription medicines to patients; - managing,
supervising and training pharmacy support staff; - budgeting
and financial management; - Keeping
up to date with current pharmacy practice, new drugs and their uses.
