FOI: Scotland

The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (the Act) requires Scottish public authorities to produce and maintain a publication scheme. Authorities are under a legal obligation to:

• publish the classes of information that they make routinely available
• tell the public how to access the information and what it might cost.

Bestway National Chemists Ltd and Bestway Panacea Healthcare Ltd trading as Well Pharmacy has adopted the Model Publication Scheme 2014 produced by the Scottish Information Commissioner. The scheme has the Commissioner’s approval until 31 May 2018.

You can see this scheme on our website at well.co.uk or by contacting us at the address below.

The purpose of this Guide to Information is to:

• allow you to see what information is available (and what is not available) in relation to each class.
• state what charges may be applied.
• explain how you can find the information easily.
• provide contact details for enquiries and to get help with accessing the information.
• explain how to request information we hold that has not been published.

Availability and formats

Information available under our publication scheme will normally be available through the routes described below. The Classes of Information section provides more details on the information available under the scheme, along with additional guidance on how the information falling within each "class" may be accessed.

Online (if available)

Most information listed in our publication scheme is available to download from our website. In many cases a link within the Classes of Information will direct you to the relevant page or document. Where no such link is present, you can use our website’s search facility at well.co.uk. If you are still having trouble finding any document listed under our scheme, then please call 0333 010 2222 for further assistance.

By email

If the information you seek is listed in our publication scheme but is not published on our website, we can send it to you by email, wherever possible. When requesting information from us, please provide a telephone number so that we can telephone you to clarify details, if necessary.

By phone

Information can also be requested from us over the telephone. Please call 0333 010 2222 to request information available under this scheme.

By post

All information under the scheme will normally be available in paper copy form. Please address your request to:

The Pharmacy Superintendent
The Pharmacy Superintendent’s Team – Well Pharmacy
1st Floor, Merchants Warehouse
21 Castle Street
Castlefield
Manchester
M3 4LZ

When writing to us to request information, please include your name and address, full details of the information or documents you would like to receive, and any fee applicable (see Our Charging Policy for further information on fees). Please also include a telephone number so we can telephone you to clarify any details, if necessary.

Advice and assistance

If you have any difficulty identifying the information you want to access, then please contact the Pharmacy Superintendent’s Team on 0333 010 2222 who we will be happy to help.

Exempt information

We will publish the information we hold that falls within the classes of information below. If a document contains information that is exempt under Scotland’s freedom of information laws (for example sensitive personal information or a trade secret), we may remove or redact the information before publication but we will explain why.

Copyright

Well Pharmacy holds the copyright for the vast majority of information in this publication scheme. All of this information can be copied or reproduced without our formal permission, provided it is copied or reproduced accurately, is not used in a misleading context, and provided that the source of the material is identified.

The publication scheme may, however, contain information where the copyright holder is not Well Pharmacy. In most cases the copyright holder will be obvious from the documents. In cases where the copyright is unclear, however, it is the responsibility of the person accessing the information to locate and seek the permission of the copyright holder before reproducing the material or in any other way breaching the rights of the copyright holder.

Information about Crown copyright material is available on the website of the Queens Printer for Scotland at www.oqps.gov.uk. We can provide you with a copy of this information if you do not have internet access.

Charges

This section explains when we may make a charge for our publications and how any charge will be calculated.

There is no charge to view information on our website or at our premises.

We may charge for providing information to you e.g. photocopying and postage, but we will charge you no more than it actually costs us to do so. We will always tell you what the cost is before providing the information to you.

Our photocopying charge per sheet of paper is shown in the tables below:

Information provided on CD-Rom/DVD or Memory Stick will be charged at £5.00 per computer disc/stick used.

Postage costs will be recharged at the rate we pay to send the information to you.

When providing copies of pre-printed publications, we will charge no more than the cost per copy of the total print run.

We do not pass any other costs on to you in relation to our published information.

Contact us

You can contact us for assistance with any aspect of this publication scheme:

The Pharmacy Superintendent
The Pharmacy Superintendent’s Team – Well Pharmacy
1st Floor, Merchants Warehouse
21 Castle Street
Castlefield
Manchester
M3 4LZ

Telephone: 0333 010 2222

If the information you are seeking is not available under this publication scheme, then you may wish to request it from us. The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA) provides you with a right of access to the information we hold, while the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) provides a right of access to any personal information about you that we hold.

Again, these rights are subject to certain exceptions or exemptions.

Should you wish a copy of any information that we hold that is not available under this scheme, please write to:

The Pharmacy Superintendent
The Pharmacy Superintendent’s Team – Well Pharmacy
1st Floor, Merchants Warehouse
21 Castle Street
Castlefield
Manchester
M3 4LZ

The classes of information that we publish

We publish all the information that we hold within the eight classes set out in the Model Publication Scheme. Once information is published under a class we will continue to make it available for the current and previous two financial years.

Where information has been updated or superseded, only the current version will be available. If you would like to see previous versions, you may make a request to us for that information.

Some information may be withheld, including personal, confidential information about individuals that is protected by the Data Protection Act. All information covered by our publication scheme can either be accessed through our website (if available), or will be provided promptly following our receipt of your request.

Our aim in maintaining this publication scheme is to be as open as possible. You should note, however, that there may be limited circumstances where information will be withheld from the Classes of Information. Information will only be withheld, however, where FOISA (or, in the case of environmental information, the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004) expressly permits it.

Information may be withheld, for example, where its disclosure would breach the law of confidentiality, harm an organisation’s commercial interests, or endanger the protection of the environment. Information may also be withheld if it is another person’s personal information, and its release would breach the data protection legislation.

Whenever information is withheld we will inform you of this, and will set out why that information cannot be released. Even where information is withheld it may, in many cases, be possible to provide copies with the withheld information edited out.

If you wish to complain about any information which has been withheld from you, please refer to Class 7– How We Are Performing.

Classes of information

1. About Well Pharmacy

Class description:

Information about Well Pharmacy, who we are, where to find us, how to contact us, how we are managed and our external relations

Details of the pharmacy, organisational structures, key personnel and how we fit into the NHS:

For each of our pharmacies the relevant Health Board has made arrangements with Well Pharmacy for the provision of pharmaceutical services under section 27 of the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978. The Pharmacy is contracted to provide a range of NHS services (listed under Section 2 below). For some services pharmacists and staff are required to attend training courses and sign service agreements with the NHS Board.

A list of our pharmacies showing their contact details and the relevant Health Board are available from the link at well.co.uk under Freedom of Information.

Key personnel:

The names of the key staff in each pharmacy can be obtained by contacting them directly.

The Pharmacy Superintendents are:

• Janice Perkins Bestway Panacea Healthcare Ltd
• John Nuttall Bestway National Chemists Ltd

Our pharmacies also employ locum pharmacists.

The opening hours for each pharmacy vary. Contact the pharmacy directly to obtain the opening hours or use the branch locator at well.co.uk.

2. How We Deliver Our Functions and Services

Class description:

Information about our work, our strategy and policies for delivering functions and services and information for our service users.

The range of services that we provide under contract to the NHS Board include:

• Stoma Care Service
• Healthy Start Vitamins
• Direct Acting Antivirals in Hepatitis C
• Opiate Replacement Therapy
• Palliative Care supply
• Anticoagulant monitoring

Our core services are:

• Acute Medication Service (AMS) – The Acute Medication Service (AMS) is the first building block in the introduction of electronic transmission of prescription information (ETP) between GP prescribers and community pharmacy contractors.
• Chronic Medication Service (CMS) – The Chronic Medication Service (CMS) is an NHS service for patients with a long-term condition. It is available at pharmacies across Scotland. A long-term condition is a health problem that is likely to last longer than a year and needs ongoing medical care, like high blood pressure or diabetes.
• Minor Ailment Service (MAS) – The Minor Ailment Service is an NHS service for children, people aged 60 or over, people who hold a medical exemption certificate and people on certain benefits. When you are registered for the Minor Ailment Service, your pharmacist can give you medicine for a minor illness or complaint, if they think you need it. You will not have to pay for this. You can’t use the NHS Minor Ailment Service if you live in a care home.
• Public Health Service (PHS) which includes Smoking Cessation and Sexual Health Service (Emergency Hormonal Contraception (EHC) and Chlamydia Testing) – The PHS encourages a more proactive involvement of pharmacists and their staff in supporting self- care, providing a health promoting environment across the network of community pharmacies, offering opportunistic opportunities to promote healthy lifestyles and contributing to national and local campaigns.
• Gluten Free Food Service – The Gluten Free Food service is an NHS Service for people who have a diagnosis of coeliac disease, or dermatitis herpetiformis from their GP. Gluten free food can be provided directly from the pharmacy, without the need to visit the GP for a prescription, the pharmacist will also invite you to an annual health check.

We also provide the following services without NHS remuneration:

• Blood Pressure Monitoring
• Private Flu Jab service

3. How We Take Decisions and What We Have Decided Class description

Information about the decisions we take how we make decisions and how we involve others.

Every pharmacist must comply with the legal requirements on the sale and supply of medicinal products and comply with the professional standards set down in Standards of Conduct, Medicines, Ethics and Performance published by the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC). These can be found on their website at http://www.pharmacyregulation.org/standards. For some services pharmacists and staff are required to attend training courses and sign service agreements with the NHS Board.

It is a requirement that we have a practice leaflet available detailing all our services. This is available from each pharmacy.

Our inclusion on the List of the NHS Health Board is subject to Terms of Service. The Terms of Service for Pharmacists can be obtained from the relevant Health Board. Health Board contact details can be found here http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Health/NHS-Workforce/NHS-Boards.

Each pharmacy keeps computerised patient medication records and is registered under the Data Protection Act.

The address of the pharmacy premises from which Well Pharmacy has undertaken to provide NHS services can be found using the list of branches at well.co.uk.

4. What We Spend and How We Spend It

Class description:

Information about our strategy for, and management of, financial resources (in sufficient detail to explain how we plan to spend public money and what has actually been spent.

From 1 April 2011 prescription charges in Scotland were abolished. Patients who present a Scottish, Welsh, Northern Irish or Isle of Man prescription form will not pay a prescription charge. Patients who present an English prescription form will pay the current English prescription charge (http://www.nhs.uk/nhsengland/Healthcosts/pages/Prescriptioncosts.aspx). Patients who present an English prescription but who are exempt under one of the exemption categories, have a prepayment certificate or have an Entitlement Card will not pay a charge. Patients living in Scotland registered with a GP in England will have an Entitlement Card.

Pharmacies are remunerated for the dispensing of prescriptions through a number of fixed payments proportional to overall activity. The average cost of a medicine dispensed on a prescription is £9.80. Further information on the cost of drugs and appliances can be found in the Drug Tariff, available from The Common Services Agency. The Information & Statistics Department of the Common Services Agency (www.show.scot.nhs.uk) (Gyle Square, 1 South Gyle Crescent, Edinburgh, EH12 9EB) produces the Drug Tariff quarterly and regular updates of Part 7 (drug prices) are published on the website of Community Pharmacy Scotland (42 Queen Street, Edinburgh, EH2 3NH).

Some information in this class may not be released because it is confidential or commercial information or its release may be substantially prejudicial to the conduct of the pharmacy’s affairs.

5. How We Manage Our Human, Physical and Information Resources

Class description:

Information about how we manage the human, physical and information resources of the authority.

Protocols in relation to prescribing protocols and standard operating procedures (SOP) relating to the dispensing of prescriptions, data protection

We have protocols and standard operating procedures relating to dispensing of prescriptions.

SOPs cover various categories:

• Responsible Pharmacist Regulations
• Sale of Medicines
• Dispensing procedures
• Patient Safety
• Controlled Drugs management
• Prescription collection and delivery
• Pharmaceutical Services

Copies are available from:

The Pharmacy Superintendent
The Pharmacy Superintendent’s Team – Well Pharmacy
1st Floor, Merchants Warehouse
21 Castle Street
Castlefield
Manchester
M3 4LZ

We are registered under the Data Protection Act and abide by the Data Protection Act principles.

6. How We Procure Goods and Services from External Providers

Class description:

Information about how we procure goods and services, and our contracts with external providers

7. How We Are Performing

Class description:

Information about how we perform as an organisation, and how well we deliver our functions and services

Policies, procedures and contacts for complaints

The complaints policy about NHS services provided by Well Pharmacy is detailed in the practice leaflet, displayed on the Customer Care notice in the pharmacy and available from well.co.uk.

If you wish to make a complaint contact 0333 010 2222 or email yourexperience@well.co.uk

Our complaints policy is in line with the Pharmaceutical Services Regulations (http://www.pharmacyregulation.org/raising-concerns) and the NHS Complaints Policy http://www.nhsnss.org/pages/contact/feedback_and_complaints.php). If you cannot resolve the problem or if you prefer not to raise the complaint with the pharmacy directly you may contact the local NHS Board using the link above.

8. Our Commercial Publications

Class description:

Information packaged and made available for sale on a commercial basis and sold at market value through a retail outlet e.g. bookshop, museum or research journal.

Guidance and Information Leaflets

As part of our core PHS service we are required by the Scottish Government to display a range of health education leaflets.

We occasionally receive other information from the NHS Board which we make available to the public.

In addition there is a range of leaflets and booklets distributed by the Scottish Government.

Useful resources

Web sites:

• www.itspublicknowledge.info – This is the Scottish Information Commissioner’s website
• www.show.scot.nhs.uk – This is the NHS Scotland website