Community pharmacies, also known as retail pharmacies, serve as essential facilities for dispensing and supplying medications, requiring pharmacists to have specific qualifications and registrations. They provide a wide range of services, including patient counseling, drug distribution, and medication management while adhering to legal and professional standards. The management of community pharmacies includes site selection, layout design, staff selection, and maintaining accurate records to ensure effective operations and compliance with regulations.

1. COMMUNITY PHARMACY
- Miss Vedika Narvekar

2. Introduction
• A community pharmacy open referred to as retail pharmacy or retail
drug outlets are places where medicines are stored, dispensed, supplied or
sold.
• The general population usually call community pharmacies “medical stores”
• Pharmacist working in the community practise are either diploma pharmacist
or graduate pharmacist with B.Pharm degrees.
• Community pharmacist should have a registration from state pharmacy
council with minimum qualification required for registration as per pharmacy
act 1948

3. Definition
Community pharmacy includes all the establishments that are privately owned
and whose function is to serve the society’s need for drug products and
pharmaceutical services.
-Includes corporate pharmacy chain to pharmacy department in supermarket
and independently owned pharmaceutical shop.
-Hybrid of professionalism and business.

4. • A community pharmacist should have:
1. A sound background of pharmaceutical care pharmacotherapy and health
promotion.
2. Have good communication skills with patients and other healthcare
providers.
3. Maintain a high degree of standard in product, service and communication
4. Record and maintain his documents in order.

5. SCOPE OF COMMUNITY PHARMACY
Community pharmacy has a large number of scopes or approaches which are
related to patient counselling and question drug control.
 Drug information and their actions.
Drug utilization.
Drug distribution.
Drug selection
Patient counselling

6. • Drug information and their actions:
Besides proper understanding of biological and physical science community
pharmacy also provides grasp on pharmacology, toxicology, route of administration
stability and their information regarding drugs.
Community Pharmacy also ensures the pharmaceutical quality of drugs and
dispensing of drugs and also responsible in selection of a suitable product in the
market.
• Drug utilization:
Community pharmacy decides the proper regimen to the patient. It should also be
able to implement an adequate system for stock and inventory control.
Stock control reports on prescription and controlled drugs dispense, drug purchases,
inspection and improvement in operations and such other aspects which demand
attention.

7. • Drug distribution:
Considerable quantities of drugs are localised physically outside the pharmacy.
It is necessary to have control for internal distribution of drugs for patient. The
patients who are hospitalized may receive intensive drug therapy, which will allow
rapid rechecks of drug source and quality.
• Drug selection:
In the field of community pharmacy the rational drug therapy plays an important role
for selection of drugs which will be given to the patients when counter the disease.
It involves various types of activities
Rational drug therapy
Training of health care professionals.
Maintainance based on clinical guidelines.
Essential drug concept.

8. Organisation and structure of retail and
wholesale drug store

9. Role of community pharmacist
• Central pharmacist responsibilities.
• Patient care area responsibilities
• Direct patient care responsibilities.
• General responsibilities

10. Central pharmacist responsibilities:
•To ensure that established policies and procedures are followed.
•Check up for accuracy of dosages prepared.
•Unit dose formulations.
•Intravenous mixture.
•Provide for proper drug control.
1. Ensure that drugs are stored and dispensed properly. Eg:- Investigational
drugs.
2. 2. Ensure that all state federal drugs laws are followed.

11. •To ensure that good techniques are used in compounding intravenous
mixtures and extemporaneous preparations.
•Provide for proper record keeping and billing.
•Patient medication records.
• Extemporaneous compounding records.
•Intravenous mixtures records billing.
•Investigational drug records.
•Reports (monthly loaded records)

12. General responsibilities of a pharmacist:
•Dispensing (or) compounding of drugs.
•Patient counselling.
•Drug information services to physician.
•Health care promotions (or) health services.
•Respond to the symptoms and minor ailments.
•Consultation to pregnant women, children, geriatric patients regarding to
health care.

13. Direct patient care area:
Monitors patients total drug therapy for:
•Effective / infectiveness of drugs.
•Side effects.
•Toxicity of drugs.
•Allergic drug reactions.
•Drug interactions.
•Appropriate therapeutic outcome.

14. Patient care area responsibilities
 Supervision of Drug Administration
Reviews and interpret each unit dose and IV medication in order to ensure that
it is entered accurately.
 Reviews all doses missed reschedule the doses as necessary.

15. Patient counselling area:
•Medication to be self administered in the hospital.
•Discharge medication.
•Provide education to the pharmacists, clerks, students, residents and other
nursing staff.
•Sometimes provide information to physician and medical students regarding
the new drug information.

17. Types and Design of Retail and Wholesale
Drug Store

18. Community pharmacy management
• Selection of Pharmacy site.
-A needy town or city should be selected.
-The site available must be most suitable one available in the city.
-Site of the pharmacy should be at the centre of the population to be served to
ensure accessibility and convenience.
-Equipped with adequate and free parking facility.

19. Plan of an ideal wholesale and retail drug
store
Objective of ideal layout design
1. To attract a large number of customers.
2. To increase the sales of the store.
3. To reduce the selling expenses to the minimum.
4. To provide customer satisfaction

20. 5. Have adequate space for reserve stock , office and resting space.
6. To have proper entrance for the newly arrived goods.
7. To project a professional image and improve general appearance.
8. To minimize the movement of the customers in the premises of the
pharmacy.

21. Design of retail and wholesale Drug store
• A modern drug store should fulfil all the requirements according to schedule
“N” of Drug and Cosmetics Rules.
• Minimum floor space required:
Wholesale drug store : 200sqft
 Retail drug store : 150sqft

23. General Factors to be considered while
selecting the location for drugstore
i. Physician: if new location is having the good practise of more than three
physicians 70% of business will come through prescriptions.
ii. Hospitals: if a hospital doesn’t have their own drugstore and practise of
physicians is very good & hospital has all facilities it’s a very good
location
iii. Drugstore: As far as possible competitor should not exist.
iv. Parking: enough parking space is always advisable particularly when you
are selecting the location in shopping centre
v. Customer: identifying customer in particular location will tell you which
products will be sold more in rich areas cosmetics and OTC products an in
slum area economic products.

24. Types of Drug Stores
• On the basis of design it is classified
1. Traditional drugstore: These types of drug stores are designed in such a
manner that the entire area of drugstore is exposed to customers. such a
design has pleasing and professional appearance and is convenient for both
workers and customers it provides opportunity for maximum sales but
there are chances of theft in such design
2. Personal service Drug Stores: in this type of design, the whole of the area
is not exposed to the customer but the customer is required to interact with
the drugstore personnel at the service counter.

25. 3. Prescription Oriented Drug Store: these types of drug stores provide a
comfortable waiting area where the customers are expected to wait while
his prescription is proceeding. In this type of design health related items,
drugs and prescription accessories are displayed in the vicinity while
orthopaedic and surgical appliances are kept in a separate room. cosmetics
and gifts are arranged in a suitable area in the store.
4. Pharmaceutical care: these types of centre sell medicines, orthopaedic
and surgical appliances.

26. 5. Super Drug store : Such types of drug stores have a huge floor area. The
customers have access to almost all the area in the drugstore and can
inspect handle and select article themselves the design is on service by turn
except for the prescription department where self-service is not possible.

28. Condition for general license
1. Should be displayed in a prominent place open to the public.
2. The license should comply with the Drug and Cosmetics rule there under
in force.
3. Any change in the qualified staff should be reported to the licensing
authority within one month.
4. Precaution prescribed by the licensing authority for the storage of schedule
C and C1 drugs should be observed.

30. Condition for restricted licenses
1. The licensee must have adequate premises equipped with adequate facility
for the proper storage of drugs.
2. The licensee should be complying with the drug and cosmetic act and the
rules there under in force.
3. Drugs only purchase from a duly licensed dealer or manufacturer.
4. The licenses can only deal in such drugs can be sold without the
supervision of a qualified person.
5. Drugs should be sold in their original container.

31. Minimum Qualification
It is essential that a person who is interested to start a retail or wholesale drug
store must be Registered Pharmacist with State Pharmacy Council.
The minimum qualification to get registered with state pharmacy council is
diploma in pharmacy from recognised institute.

32. Staff / personnel Criteria for staff
selection.
1. The qualification of the employee should not fall below the minimum
standard or else the reputation of the pharmacy may get compromised.
2. ‘Over hiring’ i.e., superior people in inferior jobs, should be avoided as this
will lead to an adverse effect on staff morale and efficiency.

33. • Selection process
1. Job description - The details of job, its relation to other job, working hours, pay
scale , etc
2. Job specification • The qualification needed for the job.
3. Job recruitment
4. Selection of personnel – tests, interviews , etc.
5. Orientation and training of staff.

34. Coding of drug
Process of assigning code for easy identification of a material.
-Essential for good store keeping.
-Ambiguity in description is avoided.
-Length of description minimized.
-Codes ensure of items lying in the floor.
-Item easily identified when it is known by more than one name.

35. Stocking of drugs
1. Stored in alphabetical order.
2. Provides a channel for distribution of drugs.
3. Drugs readily available in the pharmacy.
4. Enables correct storage of drugs e.g., antibiotics and vaccines in
refrigerator.

36. Dispensing of Proprietary products
• Dispensing refers to the process of preparing and supplying medicines to a
named person together with clear instructions advice and counselling where
necessary on the use of those medicines.
• Good dispensing practise ensures that the right medicines of desired quality
are delivered correctly to the right patient with the right dose, strength,
frequency, dosage form and quantity together with clear instructions both
written and verbal and with appropriate packaging suitable for maintaining
the quality and efficacy of the medicine.

37. • Processing the prescription
Screening:
 On receiving a prescription, it should be screened and validated to ensure
that it is for the correct patient an it complies with the requirements in the
Poisons Act.
 The prescription should be written legibly or printed.
Interpreting the prescription order : The person receiving the prescription
should check for:
• Dose, frequency and duration
• Drug interactions, medicine duplication, in appropriate drug therapy and
Contra indications
• Allergies and unusual usage & suspected misuse.

38. 1) Preparing the medicines
Selecting the medicines
• When selecting the medicine to be dispensed prevent any medication errors
by establishing an appropriate system to ensure that the correct medicine is
selected especially if there are medicines with similar names and packaging.
• Pick the medicine by reading the label at least twice and cross checking the
medicine name and strength against the prescription
• If the barcode system is available it should be used to enable correct an
accurate election of the medicine
• Check the expiry date of dispensed medicine.
• Medicine should be dispensed in original packaging as far as possible.

39. 2) Counter Checking
• Counter checking should be done by a second person other than the staff who
did the previous filling.
• Check all the medicines prepared for dispensing against the prescription.
• Once the counter checking is done the person performing this task should
sign on the prescription.
3) Recording
• Proper record keeping is an essential part of dispensing as it facilitates good
management and monitoring of services provided. Such records can be used
to verify the stocks used in dispensing and will be required if a need arises to
trace patients dispensed with a particular medicine.

40. 4) Issuing medicines to the Patient
• Issuing a supply of medicine should be only done by registered pharmacist
• When dispensing the medicines ensure the 5R’s
• Right patient
• Right medicine
• Right dose
• Right route
• Right time
Ask about allergies or ADR.
Give clear instructions and proper advice on how to take medicine dispensed.

41. Maintenance of Records of Retail and
Wholesale Drug Store
• Legal records : Required by law regarding the acquisition and disposition of
drugs.
• Patient records :Regarding the patient utilization of the drugs.
• Financial records :Regarding the past and present financial status of the
company

42. Legal records( registers)
•According to federal and state law.
•Adequate and up to date records should be maintained according to Drugs
and cosmetics act 1940, Rules 1945 and the Poison Act 1919.
• Maintain adequate record related to acquisition and disposition of certain
drugs.
•Records of distribution of poisonous and hazardous substances.
• Improperly maintained or incomplete records can bring legal action and
penalties.

43. Patients records
-Patients drug history.
-Information on all kinds ok information about kinds and amount of drugs
taken by average patients.
-Source of information on insurance claims and income tax deduction of
patients.

44. Financial records
•For making sound decision regarding future needs , inventory requirements,
etc.
•For evaluation of past operations, planning of present activities , forecasting
needs, and controlling the activities.
•Analyzing revenues and expenses.
•Measuring return on investment.
•Help ensure profitable operations.