Strategy to optimize patient safety in the community pharmacy dispensing service. Proposed checklists

Abstract

Dispensing is the most requested and important service within the tasks performed by the pharmacist, in his day-to-day work, in the community pharmacy. The aim of dispensing is to guarantee the patient’s access to the medicine in an adequate and controlled manner. During that process, the community pharmacist has the obligation, as a healthcare professional, to actively participate in a committed manner in the detection of possible medication or medication-related errors. SEFAC´s patient safety group has developed, as the beginning of a series of future projects, checklists and best guidelines for medicines formulated as transdermal patches, modified release forms or orodispersible tablets. The aim of this initiative is to minimize as far as possible, by means of a prior interview with the patient and the use of these tools, any errors or problems that might arise with these drugs, thereby ensuring patient safety. A pilot project is expected to begin throughout 2023 in community pharmacies that collaborate with SEFAC’s patient safety group. Therefore, they will be able to collect and report the results obtained.