Electronic Controlled Drug registers now legal, following release of good practice guidance
Publication last week of guidance on computerised Controlled Drug registers
means that electronic registers are now lawful.
The guidance is contained in a single sentence on p19 of the National
Prescribing Centre’s “Guide to good practice in the management
of Controlled Drugs in primary care (England)”.
It reads:“If the CD register is held in computerised form, safeguards
should be incorporated in the software to ensure the author of each entry
is identifiable, entries cannot be altered at a later date and a log of
all data entered is kept and can be recalled for audit purposes.”
An NPC source said that the sentence had been included at the request
of the Department of Health and constituted the Secretary of State for
Health’s good practice guidance issued under Section 2 of the NHS
Act 1977. A Department of Health spokeswoman said that it is “interim
guidance”. Guidance from the Health Secretary was required by the
Misuse of Drugs and the Misuse of Drugs (Supply to Addicts) (Amendment)
Regulations 2005 before computerised CD registers could be legal (PJ,
12 November, p597).
Overall, the guide aims to identify robust systems for obtaining, storing,
supplying, recording, monitoring and safely disposing of CDs. It also
seeks to ensure appropriate and convenient access to CDs for those patients
who require them. |
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