CD guidance issued in Scotland
Guidance
on managing Controlled Drugs has been issued this week by the Scottish Executive Health Department. It specifies how NHS Scotland will respond to the requirements of last year's Health
Act 2006 and subsequent Controlled Drug Regulations (PJ, 1 July 2006, p25).
The guidance falls into three areas: the requirement for each NHS board
to appoint an accountable officer to monitor the use of CDs, a duty on
health bodies to co-operate with each other and new powers of inspection.
Implications for pharmacy include a need to review regularly how CDs
are managed. The guidance states that NHS board accountable officers
should review community pharmacies once a year. Part of this will include
pharmacists completing a periodic (probably every two years) self-assessment
declaration form, an example of which is provided in the guidance.
The form includes sections on whether the pharmacy stocks CDs, the procedures
it has in place for managing CDs and possible concerns about unusual
CD prescribing. Management of CDs will include having standard operating
procedures in place to cover issues such as storage of CDs and record-keeping.
On inspection, the guidance states that NHS board accountable officers
should arrange routine inspections of premises where CDs are stored,
dispensed, supplied or used. It recommends such visits are announced
in advance. It also notes that the Royal Pharmaceutical Society will
take over responsibility from the police for inspecting CDs in community
pharmacies.
The regulations come into force on 1 March 2007, although NHS boards
have until 1 July to appoint accountable officers.
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