Surprise Audits In Store For Pharmacists

Some pharmacists in Auckland are getting surprise visitors with unannounced auditors turning up. The audits are a pilot for a new "risk-based auditing" regime, which will be more frequent but less in depth.

The unannounced inspection audits are being piloted in the Auckland area first. Auditors visited 90 pharmacies in May and June, with 15 visits planned for Auckland DHB phamacies, 27 for Waitemata DHB and 48 for Counties Manukau.

Currently about 200 pharmacies are audited by Medicines Control each year. Under the new system the number of quality audits will be reduced to about 50, along with 450 brief inspections.