Steps to setting up your service

Getting trained

Ensure that all staff involved are suitably trained

 

 

 

 

 Pharmacy set-up

  • Supplying prescription only treatments as part of your service’
  • What equipment and consultation room set up is required
  • Prepare the key service documents

 

 Marketing and promotion

Setting up a travel health service

Community pharmacies can support patients with travel health in a number of ways. This may start by simply offering appropriate over the counter travel health advice (all trained pharmacy support staff) or through travel health check service. The travel health service will enable patients to access expert advice on travel vaccinations and medication from a trained pharmacist. There is a demand for providing travel vaccinations in community pharmacy as not all GP practices offer vaccinations for travel and if they do, not all vaccinations are available via the NHS.

 

1. Ensure that all staff involved are suitably trained

Any member of the pharmacy team may be the first point of contact for a patient requesting advice relating to travel health. They should also be trained on the key aspects of the services you offer in the pharmacy, including price, consultation times/process and booking process, so they are able to advise patients appropriately. They should also be aware of basic OTC travel products and advice.

Our Training page, provides guidance about what training is available to pharmacists and pharmacy support staff.

Training matrix
The training matrix can be used to ensure that each member of staff has carried out the suggested training, in order for you to be satisfied with their competence, before engaging with patients/customers. Please adapt the matrix according to your pharmacy’s service outline.

Download Matrix Training
2. Supplying prescription only treatments as part of your service’

If you intend to provide a travel vaccinations and medicines, you could do this if you are an independent prescriber or you will need to have access to suitable PGDs. You may purchase a private PGD from Pharmadoctor or ECG training here.

Pharmadoctor have a Travel health clinic service package which gives access to  PGDs for the service via an eTool,  and  also includes all travel vaccinations and medicines as well as marketing materials to support you with service delivery.  The Pharmadoctor eTool is consultation software which guides you seamlessly through a full online travel health risk-assessment based on the individual traveller’s needs and their planned trip.
3. What equipment and consultation room set up is required
In order for you to provide a travel health service, you must ensure that you have a suitable consultation room and the correct equipment. You can find a list of required equipment and consumables in the travel health service implementation guide here.
4. Prepare the key service documents

The NPA has developed resources to support you with the delivery of your travel health service:

Risk assessment form

Updated version coming soon

Travel essentials checklist

Use this checklist to ensure that you have assisted the customer in obtaining all the other OTC and other products for their trip.
5. Manage appointments – use a service booking diary

To smoothly manage appointments for your services, you can use the appointment booking systems available from NPA trusted partners HasHealth, Charac, GetClara and CityDoc.

For more information please click here.
6. GP engagement for signposting to and other pharmacy services’

Working in harmony with local GPs is of particular importance for services, as many GP practices do not provide travel vaccinations at the practice.

This GP letter template may be used to advise your local GP practices of the services you offer in your pharmacy so that they can signpost patients to them.

The GP engagement guidance document advises on the best steps to take to successfully engage with your local GP practice.

  

 

 8. Promotional materials

You can download this poster to promote the travel health service in your pharmacy:
Other important information

Please ensure that you are familiar with the Specialist Pharmacy Services (SPS) guidance on the use of PGDs, which can be found here.

We also recommend that you are familiar with the MHRA Blue Guide which aims to provide guidance on advertising and promoting medicines. This can be found here.

You may also find it useful to read NICE guidelines on the use of PGDs, which can be accessed here and the MHRA guidance on ‘who can use a PGD’ which can be accessed here.

If you are based in Northern Ireland, we recommend you refer to PSNI’s professional standards when advertising medicines and professional services. These can be found here.

If you are based in Scotland, please read the ‘Best Practice Statement PGDs’ from Healthcare Improvement Scotland, which can be found here.