How Can Digital Management of SOPs Save You Time and Money?
SOPs are used as guidance for governance and quality assurance within the pharmacy business. In short, it clearly describes who does what, where, when and how. As outlined by the PSI, a written standard operating procedure which describes how to perform a given operation should be generated for all pharmacy processes .Correctly implemented SOPs result in systematic procedures which ensure tasks are carried out safely, efficiently and to a high standard. By ensuring your SOPs are implemented correctly, it will help decrease errors within the pharmacy, saving both time and money. Correct implementation of SOPs will result in a large amount of benefits for both the pharmacy and its patients.
Quality and Consistency of Service
Helps ensure that the quality of the service is always kept to the highest standard and means that all tasks are carried out in an appropriate manner. This ensures the best practice is followed by pharmacy staff. It is important to consistently review and update SOPs to ensure they adhere to the relevant legislation and codes of ethics. The new SOP feature on the Pharmapod system allows for new versions to be uploaded to the system and stores previous versions as a reference point.
Comply with PSI Requirements
According to Section 18 of the Pharmacy Act 2007, pharmacies are required to have standard operating procedures in place for specific tasks. By availing of our SOP module, compliance can be demonstrated when faced with PSI inspections. Additionally, the system has a number of features which facilitate the audit.
Reduce Errors in the Pharmacy
Appropriate SOP management will ensure that all members of staff follow the appropriate procedure for the relevant task. Just as with Pharmapod’s Incident Management module, the aim of our new SOP module is to decrease errors further by ensuring SOPs are implemented correctly.
Maintain a Record of Staff Training
Whether it is a full time member of staff or a locum pharmacist, training is necessary to ensure efficiency within practice. With our new SOP feature you can send the SOP directly to each member of staff and make sure they sign off to say they have read and understand each SOP.
Easy Delegation of Tasks
SOPs also outline which staff member can perform each task. This means that each staff member will be aware of what is required of them. This will ensure experience and expertise of the pharmacy team are utilised appropriately to ensure procedures are carried out efficiently. The Pharmapod system assists with task delegation by allowing you assign specific tasks to certain members of staff.