Your local chemist is often your first stop for health and wellness advice.
But did you know the measures your pharmacy takes in providing safe and effective primary healthcare support reach far beyond building a great rapport with regular customers and providing friendly advice?
There are several obligations and requirements that chemists meet to protect you and to safeguard your health. Here are just five ways your local pharmacist protects your health, wellness and safety.
1. Provides clear verbal instructions and explanation
Your local chemists are carefully trained to provide expert advice and recommendations. In fact, part of this personalised service is offering verbal instruction on taking medications and treatments.
When you visit your pharmacy to pick up a prescription – particularly if you’ve been prescribed a new medication – take a moment to talk with your local chemist about the dosage, whether or not you should take your medication with food, and if there is anything else you should know about taking that particular medication, including potential side effects.
If you’re visiting your pharmacy to purchase a supplement or over the counter treatment, ask your chemists staff for advice on the best treatment product or option.
2. Follows safety procedures while dispensing medication
Chemists are professionally trained in safe procedures for dispensing medication, and follow these processes carefully when filling your prescription to ensure you receive the right medication, at the correct dosage, for the required treatment time. Your local chemist also offers custom medication dispensing options, including: personalised daily blister packs, to make taking the correct dosage of multiple medications and aged care pharmaceuticals safer.
3. Verifies your Prescription
Did you know that your local chemist verifies each prescription they receive before it is safely dispensed and ready to receive?
Prescription verification is an important part of a chemist’s role – and acts as a safeguard to ensure each customer receives the correct medication and dosage. Your pharmacy may verify your prescription using specialist software, and will check all elements of your prescription are correct, including:
- Your name
- Date of birth
- Medication name, strength and quantity.
4. Takes a holistic approach to coordinating your treatment
Treatment coordination is another important element of your local chemist’s role in carefully and effectively safeguarding your health.
Through treatment coordination, your pharmacist will talk with you about your treatment needs and any special requirements you may have, including if you have experienced allergies or reactions to any other medications in the past. They will check if any newly prescribed medications, or over the counter treatments, will impact or reduce the effectiveness of other medications and treatments you are currently taking. They will also talk you through lifestyle choices that may affect your treatment, for a holistic approach that considers all aspects of your health and wellness.
5. Follows legal requirements
Prescription medicines are controlled substances – meaning they cannot be obtained without approval from a registered doctor.
As dispensers of controlled substances, chemists must act strictly within the current laws, and are trained to follow the correct processes in administering medications to ensure the correct medications are provided to the right people. Your chemist may be obligated to ask for photo identification for proof of identity in the supply of certain controlled substances and medications. Please don’t be offended if this is the case – even if you already know your local chemist staff well. This part of their controlled substances dispensing procedures is designed to protect all customers, and safeguard against medications falling into the wrong hands accidentally.
Learn more about our pharmacy services, by visiting one of our pharmacies in Melbourne: