The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 269 No 7205 p36
6 July 2002

Society summary

New MEP includes guidance on preparing SOPs for dispensing

The inclusion of guidance on developing and implementing standard operating procedures for dispensing is the main change in the new 26th edition of 'Medicines, ethics and practice: A guide for pharmacists'. The guidance has been produced to help pharmacists meet a Royal Pharmaceutical Society requirement that written SOPs should be in operation in every community and hospital pharmacy from 1 January 2005 (see also p12). The guidance is also available from the practice guidance section of the Society's website.

The publication of the SOPs guidance follows widespread consultation on a draft version (PJ, 5 May 2001, p616) and a decision by the Society's Council (PJ, 13 October 2001, p530) to amend existing guidance on the self-checking of dispensed items for accuracy. Existing Council policy that "self-checking by non-pharmacists is not recommended" has now been replaced by a statement that "Self-checking is not recommended other than in exceptional circumstances in which procedures are in place to assure patient safety and where it is in the patient's best interest to do so".

Three examples of such "exceptional circumstances" are given in a footnote. The first example is where a pharmacist is working with no dispensary support staff.

The second example is where well-defined protocols, for which the pharmacist is accountable, are in place to enable self-checking of specific items by those who are trained and competent to do so. However, the guidance emphasises that no current training programmes enable non-pharmacists to develop and demonstrate competence in self-checking for accuracy.

The third example, which relates specifically to hospital pharmacies and residential/nursing homes, allows self-checking when a doctor has changed the dose of a medicine and previously dispensed items need to be relabelled, or when labelling is added to routinely available stock medicines. It is recommended that separate SOP is developed to cover this procedure.

The new MEP is to be published by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society next week. Other changes in the new edition occur mainly in Section 1, which sets out general legal requirements. Section 1.2 (medicines for human use) gives new information relating to nurse prescribers, classes of prescription-only medicines, wholesale dealing in medicines, labelling of general sale list products, Schedule 4 Controlled Drugs and destruction of CDs. Section 1.6 (methylated spirits) contains new information on the supply of methylated spirits by authorised users. Section 1.8 (medicines for veterinary use) has new information on recording the supply of prescription-only veterinary drugs.

Another change in the 26th edition is the provision of a more comprehensive index than in previous editions.

'Medicines, ethics and practice' is produced by the Society as a day-to-day reference source for practising pharmacists, who receive it free of charge. The Society's Professional Standards Directorate expects that a current edition of the guide would be available for consultation in all dispensaries.

Copies of the new edition are to be sent direct to members of the Society with registered addresses in Britain, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands, other than those who pay the reduced retention fee for members aged over 60 years who are not in gainful employment. Copies are also being sent to preregistration trainees and, in bulk, to all UK schools of pharmacy.

Additional copies of the guide can be purchased from

Pharmaceutical Press
Customer Services, PO Box 151, Wallingford, Oxfordshire OX10 8QU

Tel 01491 829272; fax 01491 829292
e-mail rpsgb@cabi.org

Orders can also be placed online at www.pharmpress.com

The guide costs £9.95 plus a postage and packing charge of £3 for the first copy and 60p for each additional copy (overseas addresses £4 for the first copy and £1 for each additional copy).

Some of the content of the guide is updated between editions. Updates can be found on the law and ethics and practice sections of the Society's website. In addition, in the first issue of each month, The Journal publishes cumulative lists of amendments to the guide's lists of medicines for human and veterinary use (Sections 1.3 and 1.9). Given below are the first additions to the new guide's lists of medicines for human use. The abbreviations used are explained in the key to annotations on p27 of the guide.

• APO-go pen injector POM
• Care Cetirizine Hayfever Relief tablets P
• Cipralex tablets POM
• Filnarine SR tablets CD POM
• Neoclarityn syrup POM
• Pletal tablets POM