Glossary

Absence from work certificates

The written verification from a pharmacist of a consumer's absence from work due to illness or injury or due to caring for an immediate family member due to illness or injury

Accreditation

In reference to QCPP, accreditation is a process of review that allows pharmacies to demonstrate their ability to meet requirements and standards established by a recognised accreditation body.

Accreditation cycle

The period that a pharmacy is accredited for from the successful completion of their assessment, in ordinary circumstance this is two years from accreditation date and is made up of both an assessment and an anniversary year

Accreditation date

The date from which accreditation is granted

Accreditation invoice

The annual invoice required for maintenance of accreditation

Additional assessment

A non-accreditation QCPP assessment conducted by an approved and independent QCPP endorsed assessor. Additional assessments can include:

1. supplementary assessment - may consist of either onsite or remote documentation assessment. A maximum of two random assessments may be conducted in any calendar year;
2. unannounced assessment (without notice); and
3. expansion of Services assessment if QCPP is notified, or believes, that the pharmacy business has expanded its service offering which is relevant to their QCPP accreditation.

Administration invoice

A fee to recover administrative costs of QCPP delivering services additional to services included in the accreditation invoice

Adverse drug reaction

Unwanted and sometimes harmful occurrences from the use of medicines

Appeals

A request for reversal or re-consideration of a decision made by QCPP

AS 85000 (Australian Standard)

Provides guidance for the design, implementation and continuous improvement of a community pharmacy quality management system. QCPP accreditation is granted or denied against the standard

Assessment cancellation fee

The fee incurred if the assessment is cancelled within 10 calendar days of the assessment date

Assessment period

The commencement date of assessment as agreed between the QCPP assessment provider and the pharmacy

Assessment results

The outcomes of the conducted assessment as reported to the pharmacy

Assessor

A person endorsed by QCPP to carry out QCPP Assessments

Assessor travel invoice

Will be issued where the pharmacy has not accepted the most cost-effective assessment date or has cancelled an assessment and non-refundable travel costs had already been incurred

Asthma devices

Medical devices used to assist the management of asthma. Common devices include spacers, face masks and aids to use Metered Dose Inhalers (MDI)

Audit tool

The device used by QCPP assessors to conduct the assessment

Australian Association of Consultant Pharmacy (AACP)

Major credentialing body for pharmacists to provide pharmacy cognitive service e.g. HMR and RMMR

Australian Charter of Healthcare Rights

Specifies the key rights of patients and consumers when seeking or receiving healthcare services

Australian Pharmaceutical Formulary (APF)

Mandatory text that guides pharmacy practice in effectively making clinical judgements, identifying drug-related issues, preparing extemporaneous products and counselling on the safe and effective use of medicines

Authorised attendee

The role of the authorised attendee is to observe and/or validate the assessment approach used by the assessor

Booking confirmation

A confirmation of assessment date and expectations prior to the assessment

Budget forecasting

A summarised expected financial forecast

Business continuity plan

A plan designed to help your pharmacy respond to a crisis event, minimise interruptions, recover and resume normal operations as quickly as possible. A crisis event may be a fire, flood, loss of key staff, pandemic etc.

Business model

A plan for the successful operation of a business by identifying sources of revenue, the intended customer base, products and details of financing

Business performance

Business performance is a set of performance management and analytic processes that enables the management of pharmacy/organisation's performance to achieve one or more pre-selected goals

Business plan

A written description and plan of the business's future

Calibration

A process of ensuring a device reads or takes measurements accurately, in accordance with its manufacturer’s instructions

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation: CPR

Emergency protocol for providing oxygen to a casualty that consists of alternating chest compressions with mouth-to-mouth breathing

Clinical Indicators

measures of the process, structure and/or outcomes of patient care to identify areas of concern which might require further review or development

Clinical intervention

A professional activity undertaken by a registered pharmacist directed towards improving the quality use of medicines and resulting in a recommendation for a change in the patient's medication therapy means of administration or medication-taking behaviour

Community pharmacy service charter

The Community Pharmacy Service Charter adopts the principles of the Australian Charter of Healthcare Rights and describes how it applies to community pharmacy

Complementary medicines

Include products containing herbs, vitamins, minerals, nutritional supplements, homeopathic medicines, certain aromatherapy products, and traditional Chinese medicines

Complex Compounding

The preparation and supply of a single 'unit of issue' of a therapeutic product that is intended for supply for a specific patient and that requires or involves special competencies, equipment, processes and facilities. Sterile, cytotoxic, hormone, micro-dose, single-unit dosage forms, sustained-release and modified-release preparations

Conflict of interest

A situation where a person or an organisation has multiple interests (financial or otherwise) and serving one will adversely affect the other

Consultation area

An identifiable area or separate room within the professional services area that allows for confidential interactions and conversations at normal speaking volume without being overheard by others

Consumer Medicines Information (CMI)

Leaflet that contains information on the safe and effective use of a prescription or specified non-prescription medicine

Consumer/Stakeholder demographics

Characteristics of your consumer base

Contract of employment

A contract of the rights, responsibilities and obligations of a working relationship between an employer and an employee

Controlled medicines

Schedule 8 medicines; medicines with strict legislative requirements for storage and supply

Core questions

Assessment questions that must be addressed by every pharmacy in each accreditation cycle

Corrective Action Review (CAR)

A pharmacy's ability to appeal a corrective action decision made by an assessor by providing evidence to re-consider. Decisions will be based on the evidence presented to the Interpretations and Rulings panel

Corrective actions

An action that is required to remediate a non-conformance and /or weakness in the Quality Management System

Courier

A person, who is not an employee of the pharmacy, contracted to move goods to or from the pharmacy

Cycling

Sets of assessment questions rotated based on risk to ensure pharmacies are assessed on all requirements

Cytotoxic medicines

Medicines which have a deleterious effect upon cells and may be mutagenic, teratogenic or carcinogenic. These medicines are predominantly used to treat cancer or autoimmune disorders and require special handling

Date change

An agreed change of date for QCPP assessment

Declaration

An authoritative establishment of fact

Delivery

The transport of goods from the pharmacy to another location, usually by pharmacy staff. It does not include transport of goods defined to be distance supply

Disease State Management (DSM)

A service that supports consumers who have been diagnosed with a chronic health condition that entails monitoring and ongoing management

Dispensing

Provision of medicines as set on a lawful prescription

Dose Administration Aids

Dose Administration Aid services include packing of medication packs and sachets for consumers in residential care or the community setting

Evidence

(e.g. policies, procedures, records) presented by the pharmacy to demonstrate their ability to meet the QCPP Requirements.

Exceptional circumstances

Events that have an immediate impact in the pharmacy’s ability to deliver regular services and where the pharmacy has done all reasonable action to mitigate impact to maintain their reaccreditation (out of the pharmacy’s control).

Exit Interview

An interview held with an employee about to leave the organisation, typically to discuss the employee's reason for leaving

Expansion of Services Assessment

Where a pharmacy seeks to be provisionally accredited for an additional service between accreditation assessments and must provide evidence of compliance of the specific service requirements

First aid qualification

The first aid qualification is to be the “Senior First Aid” certificate and should be current as per the accredited training provider’s guidelines

Foundation pharmacy services

Services provided by all community pharmacies including dispensing, supply of non-prescription medicines, simple compounding and supply of medical devices

General trading area

Location of the pharmacy that excludes the professional services area and usually used for general retail products and sales

Geo-schedule

Assessment scheduling based on location

Hazardous materials

An item or agent, which has the potential to cause harm, whether by itself or with other factors

Health promotion

A process/activity where the pharmacy actively engages consumers and the community to promote health and wellbeing at a group or population level

HMR (Home Medicines Review)

A medicines review conducted by an accredited pharmacist in the patients' home, usually initiated by a referral from the patient's practitioner

Induction

Ensures employees and other relevant persons understand their role and the systems they work with. Induction should mitigate risks posed by non-conformance to the pharmacy's policies and procedures. Staff induction relates both to new employees and new roles/functions for existing employees

Induction checklist

A process and list to welcome new employees and to ensure they are prepared for their role

Initial assessment

A pharmacy's first QCCP assessment including those pharmacies wishing to return to QCPP

Initial pharmacy

A new pharmacy who has registered for QCPP accreditation or has requested to return to QCPP

In-pharmacy medicines review

An in-pharmacy review of a consumer's medicines which focuses on education and self-management e.g. MedsCheck

Intern pharmacist

Pharmacists, with a restriction on their practice that they must be supervised

Internal extension

Any extension applied by QCPP to a pharmacy's due date for either assessment or corrective action evidence for which the pharmacy does not have to directly apply. Only provided where instances of QCPP's administrative processes necessitate an extension.

JAS-ANZ (Joint Accreditation System of Australia and New Zealand)

Accredited certification and inspection of products, processes and people

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Measurable indicators to assess the performance of the business and employees

Knowledge Hub

Support and resource material located in the QCPP Customer Portal

Lapsed pharmacy

A pharmacy whose accreditation has expired or has been revoked due to failure to meet one or more of the program rules or requirements

Lead assessor

An endorsed QCPP assessor responsible for performing a QCPP assessment on a pharmacy. They may be shadowed by another assessor in training or by an authorised attendee to observe and/or validate the assessment approach used by the assessor

Lease

A contract of conveying land, property, services etc. to another for a specified time with the periodic payment

Lux

The SI unit of illuminance (i.e. the brightness of light)

Market pressures

External stresses that can affect a business

Medical device

A health-related instrument, apparatus, appliance, material or other article (whether used alone or in combination and including the software necessary for its proper application) intended to be used for health care

Medicines

Medicines are therapeutic goods represented to achieve an intended health benefit including all prescription medicines, non-prescription medicines and complementary medicines

Medicines adherence

A program that encourages consumers to take prescribed medicines consistently and according to the regimen intended

Mobility aids

Equipment that assists mobility for disabled or injured people, or those with mobility impairment

Natural justice

Pharmacy owners or other relevant authorised parties who dispute a decision of QCPP have a right to appeal certain decisions in accordance with the Natural Justice Policy

Near miss event

An unplanned event that did not result in injury, illness, or damage, but had the potential to do so. An example is a dispensing error that was identified before the consumer left the pharmacy with the medication

Needle and Syringe Program (NSP)

Provides sterile injecting equipment and education to prevent blood-borne disease for injecting drug users

Non-conformance

The absence of, or a significant failure to implement and /or maintain conformance to the requirements of the applicable standard or clause

Non-health services

Non-Health Services include but are not limited to, indirect supply (e.g. internet pharmacy services and deliveries by third-party service providers) and delivery services by pharmacy staff

Non-prescription medicines

Medicines that do not require a prescription to be attained

Observation

Consideration is given to potential improvement and/or positive feedback.  Where potential improvement is noted this may lead to a remedial action required in the future if not addressed.

On-site

An assessment conducted on the pharmacy premise

Operational plan

A detailed plan that explains a business's objectives, goals procedures and timelines, as well as day to day tasks

Operations manual

The manual prepared as a result of the QCPP Requirements that includes all policies, procedures and templates used in the pharmacy

Opioid Substitution Program (OSP)

A harm minimisation treatment program for opioid dependence offered by the pharmacy, usually in conjunction with a state/territory health program

PCCA

Professional Compounding Chemists of Australia

Pharmacist-only medicine (S3)

Non-prescription medicines with special storage requirements that require direct sale and advice by a pharmacist

Pharmacy only medicine (S2)

Non-prescription medicine available only in pharmacies (or licensed person) which may require advice from a pharmacist

Pharmacy owner/proprietor

A person, partnership of persons, associations of persons, being an employer and as such carrying on the business and profession of a pharmacist, individually or in a partnership in private practice within the Commonwealth of Australia or its territories

Pharmacy Services Assessment

Assessment of declared pharmacy services

Point of sale (POS)

The place where retail transactions are carried out

Poison

A poison is defined as either:

• A Schedule 7 Dangerous Poison as defined in The Standard for Uniform Scheduling of   Medicines and Poisons, or
• A chemical of national security concern (for example hydrogen peroxide)

Price list

A list of prices for products sold by the pharmacy, usually predominately in the context of Prescription Medicines

Procedure

A sequential set of steps which describes a process for doing something

Professional Service Area

A continuous area established within a pharmacy where only health-related products and services are provided and is supervised by a pharmacist

Professional Services Declaration (PSD)

An electronic form completed by the pharmacy prior to assessment, that indicates the professional services conducted within the pharmacy and that must be assessed to obtain accreditation

Program rules

A set of QCPP regulative rules that all pharmacies must accept and adhere to, to obtain QCPP accreditation

QCPP Customer Portal

An online hub for pharmacies to view and submit evidence, make payments, control pharmacy information and allocations and view important information and resources on assessments

QCPP Impartiality Committee

A group of pharmacy industry representatives who discuss all issues relating to QCPP and formulate rulings to ensure that the program remains impartial to all pharmacies

QCPP Logo

The logo as defined in the current edition of the QCPP style guide

Quality Care 2020 (QC2020)

Quality Care 2020 program is the newest edition of the QCPP program commencing 1 October 2020 complying with the Australian Standard 85000:2017

Quality management system (QMS)

A formalized system that documents processes, procedures, and responsibilities for achieving quality policies and objectives. A QMS helps coordinate and direct an organisation’s activities to meet customer and regulatory requirements and improve its effectiveness and efficiency on a continuous basis

Random assessment

An assessment carried out at a pharmacy for the purposes of monitoring compliance with the standard that is not the routine reaccreditation assessment

Random sample

A sample of questions asked to a pharmacy for assessment purposes which may require delivery of evidence and affect the accreditation status of a pharmacy

RCC

Recognition of Current Competency

Re-accreditation

When an already accredited pharmacy must undertake their next onsite assessment in line with the accreditation cycle, to maintain accreditation

Recognised course

A course recognised by QCPP for refresher training

Refresher Training

Ongoing training in Pharmacy Medicines and Pharmacist Only Medicines

Remedial action required

Required for all non-conformances. To close a remedial action the pharmacy must provide the required evidence to show their compliance with the requirements

Remote assessment

An assessment which is not conducted on-site e.g. video/phone conference, document upload and review

Return of Unwanted Medicines (RUM) program

A service patients can utilise to return unwanted or expired medicines to the pharmacy which are disposed of in a RUM container for safe disposal

Return to program

Pharmacies who were once accredited under QCPP and wish to return to the program

Revoking or suspending accreditation

Temporary or permeant cancellation of QCPP accreditation due to critical breach of the QCPP rules

RMMR (Residential Medication Management Review)

A medicines review conducted by an accredited pharmacist for patients living in an aged care facility

Root cause analysis

Root cause analysis (RCA) is a systematic process for identifying “root causes” of problems or events and an approach for responding to them, such as: what action they have taken to resolve it, why the issue has occurred and how they will prevent it from happening in the future

Root cause tags

Categorise the root cause of a non-conformance to identify the cause of the non-compliance. Categories include; Administrative, Behavioural, Capacity, Skills and training, Equipment and tools, Systems

RUM Container

A specialist container approved by the Return of Unwanted Medicines Project and used to store unwanted medicines returned to a pharmacy

Safety and security

To ensure a safe environment for consumers and employees and maintaining the safety of assets in response to internal and external threats. Common safety and security risks for pharmacy include, but are not limited to, armed hold up, physical hazards (e.g. Trip hazards), shoplifting, fire, medical emergencies, and manual handling

Sample size

The number of pieces of evidence an assessor will audit for a question e.g. Training records for 3 staff members

Sampling

Randomly selected questions from the total population

Sanction

Disciplinary action against a pharmacy deemed to be in breach of the program rules, terms and conditions

Scheduled medicines

Medicines contained in the Standard for the Uniform Scheduling of Medicines and Poisons, often used only in the context of Pharmacy Medicines and/or Pharmacist Only Medicines and have been classified into varying levels of restrictions to protect public health and safety

Screening and risk assessment

The undergoing of tests or questions to identify patients who may be of risk or have a health condition which requires further investigation

Script receipt form

A form used in a pharmacy to record information about prescribed medications that are then used in the updating of a patient record

Self-assessment

Self-Assessment or 1st Party - An internal assessment /audit that an organisation performs on itself

Senior assessor

An EY employee who has been endorsed as a QCPP assessor and their primary role within the firm is to perform QCPP assessments only, e.g. on a full-time basis

Sharps container

Impervious sealable container of appropriate dimensions to safely store needles, syringes and other sharp contaminated objects to assist in the prevention of needle-stick injuries

Simple compounding

The preparation and supply of a single 'unit of issue' of a therapeutic product intended for a specific person in response to an identified need. It involves extemporaneous dispensing from formulations published in reputable references, such as the APF, and formulations for which information confirming quality, safety, efficacy and rationality is available and excludes preparations or sterile products

Staff management and development

Staff management refers to the activities and systems used to enable staff to deliver desired business functions. Proactive and collaborative staff management approaches are most likely to empower staff

Staged supply

A clinically-indicated, structured pharmacist service involving the supply of medicine to a patient in periodic instalments as requested by the prescriber or carer

Stock

Goods or merchandise kept on the premise of a shop available for sale

Supply of medicines

The provision of medicines within a pharmacy environment and includes prescriptions from a health professional or by request from a consumer and covers the assessment of the consumer’s requirements and the provision of professional advice

System (in context of a requirement)

Procedure consistent with best-practice guidelines which includes a process for recording, training and reviewing the procedure and expected outcomes

Temperature sensitive stock

Items which require special storage and handling due to its sensitivity to temperature deviations

Termination of employment (resignations and dismissals)

Effective use of appropriate processes is required to support leaving employees and to limit business exposure to industrial and financial risk

TGA

Therapeutic Goods Administration

Therapeutic Drug Monitoring (TDM)

The individualisation of dosage by maintaining plasma or blood drug concentrations within a target range (therapeutic range, therapeutic window)

Therapeutic goods

Goods that are represented in any way to be, or that a likely to be taken for therapeutic use or used as an ingredient or component in the manufacture of therapeutic goods

Training and development record

A record of training and/or development activities for each employee, including details such as dates, duration and learning objectives

Training plan

A documented training and development plan for employees which helps identify and undertake activities to meet their professional development needs or skill required for their role

Visual assessment

Remote assessment using video conferencing

Witness assessment

An observational assessment that seeks to enhance the awareness of QCPP Assessment processes and meet any additional requirements such as JAS-ANZ accreditation. Witness Assessments are conducted by both QCPP and EY

Workplace Grievance Process

A process to address any problem, concern or complaint related to an employee or work environment