There are regulations stating that every registered pharmacy must have a named responsible pharmacist and a record must be kept to identify the responsible pharmacist for five years. A notice must be displayed within the pharmacy naming the responsible pharmacist on duty. The responsible pharmacist is legally responsible for the safe and effective running of the pharmacy and their responsibilities include establishing, maintaining and reviewing procedures.

The law states that the responsible pharmacist may be absent from the pharmacy for a maximum of two (cumulative) hours within a 24 hour period or working day. During this time the pharmacist must remain contactable and be able to return to the pharmacy within a reasonable time.

Under the law, the sale or supply of both P and POM medicines is prohibited whilst the responsible pharmacist is away from the pharmacy unless there is another pharmacist present to supervise the sale. It is important for you to be aware of this because dispensed medicines cannot be handed out for delivery either, even if they have been checked by the responsible pharmacist and are in bags ready for delivery. You will need to communicate with your customers if there is a potential delay to the delivery of their medication.

You cannot deliver medicines when the pharmacy has closed, as the responsible pharmacist is legally responsible for these deliveries, so you must complete your deliveries within pharmacy opening hours returning any undelivered medicines back to the pharmacy before you finish. It is important to have discussed the procedure you should follow with the pharmacist if you are delayed and don’t anticipate being able to return items to the pharmacy before it closes.