Panel hearing summary 2012.0176

Decision of the Pharmacy Board of Australia

Performance and Professional Standards Panel

Jurisdiction: Victoria

Date of Hearing: 10 December 2012

Date of Decision: 21 December 2012

Classification of Notification:

Pharmacy/medication- Inappropriate, unlawful or inaccurate dispensing

Allegations

It was alleged that the pharmacist had behaved in a way that constituted unsatisfactory professional performance under section 191(1)(b)(i) of the National Law in that they:

• supplied a patient with incorrect dosage of prescribed medication
• failed to effectively use a barcode scanner or failed to ensure a technician under their supervision effectively used a barcode scanner when dispensing the medication.

Finding

The pharmacist admitted the dispensing error. The panel accepted the admission and found that the pharmacist had engaged in unsatisfactory professional performance and had failed in all the ways alleged.

The panel acknowledged the merit in the system adopted in the pharmacy of having multiple pharmacists and technicians involved in dispensing individual prescriptions as it provided multiple opportunities for checking prescriptions. However, it stressed that each pharmacist is personally responsible for dispensing items that are recorded under their name and must check prescriptions accordingly.

It accepted that the pharmacist had taken appropriate action in the dispensary when the notification was received by holding an emergency dispensary team meeting to remind all staff about the requirements to scan, enhancing the checking procedures and apologising to the patient.

Determination

The panel cautioned the pharmacist.