Hardback Controlled Drug Recording Book & HSE Health and Safety Law Poster A3 FWC30/A3: What You Need to Know

Product Information

A GP should normally be the person responsible for holding the keys to the CD cupboard within the practice, but they can authorise another person, such as the practice manager, to take on this task. However, the GP remains ultimately accountable for the management of the CDs within their premises. The keys to the CD cupboard or receptacle should always be stored separately from it. Combinations should also be changed whenever there are grounds to suspect that they may have become known to an unauthorised person; The following additional requirements apply to written prescriptions for CDs listed in Schedule 2 or 3: Many of these drugs have recognised therapeutic benefits and are available to the public in the form of a ‘medicinal product’ and generally on prescription only. The CDR must also record the following information for all Schedule 2 CDs supplied (including by way of administration):

the use of a separate, larger bore needle to withdraw the product from the vial before changing to a smaller needle to administer the product The following example CD register has been put together as a guide. Disposal of Controlled Drugs Destruction and disposal have any mistakes crossed through with a single line so the original entry is legible, and the new entry signed and dated Be kept at the premises to which they relate and be available for inspection at any time. A separate register must be kept for each set of premises, and for each cabinet within those premises.

The Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001 categorise controlled drugs into 5 schedules. The schedules correspond to the level of therapeutic usefulness and the potential for harm from misuse, with lower schedules having higher risk. The Home Office has produced a list of the most commonly prescribed controlled drugs. Schedule 2 Vets, pharmacists and anyone involved in prescribing, supplying, keeping records of, storing, disposing or destroying veterinary medicines that contain controlled drugs (CDs) must comply with the law on the misuse of drugs and veterinary medicines. This guide is intended to support teams in ensuring they comply with the law and regulatory expectations set out by the Home Office. Every team must have the following: a single central controlled drugs register and any additional records necessary to show who was responsible for the drugs at any one time

You must carefully select the injection equipment and use good technique to reduce wastage due to dead space in syringes. You must record the volume (dose) withdrawn on each occasion and write off the vial as unusable (destroyed) in the register once there is no useable volume remaining. The responsible servant must submit the annual CD audit data in a timely fashion. Theft, loss and discrepanciesThe date of destruction and the quantity destroyed should be recorded against the appropriate entry of the controlled drugs register

or footnote which must specify the date on which the correction is made. An * can be used to highlight the line in which there is an error People’s own individually labelled controlled drugs (Schedules 2, 3 and 4 (Part I)) must be denatured before handing to the waste disposal company. The Environment Agency classes this as processing waste. Care homes with nursing will need to apply for a T28 waste exemption. This is free of charge. If the error or omission is traced, the appointed senior veterinary surgeon should make an entry in the CDR clearly stating the reason for the discrepancy and the corrected balance. This entry should be witnessed by another veterinary surgeon or a veterinary nurse and both should sign the CDR. Veterinary nurses may be asked to administer CDs out of hours when there is no veterinary surgeon on the premises. In these cases, veterinary surgeons must prescribe the drug to an animal under their care and decide on the dose. They may also wish to draw up the correct dose, labelling it, and leaving it with instructions as to what time it is to be given to a particular patient before going off duty. A veterinary nurse cannot decide to give a CD or change the dose (i.e., make prescribing decisions) and may only act under the direction of a veterinary surgeon in this regard. CDs for euthanasia in practice

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whether proof of identity was requested of animal owner or animal owner’s representative (yes or no) digital codes should be changed on a regular basis – minimum yearly, more usually 6-monthly or when a team member with access to the drugs leaves

CD cabinets must only be accessed by a veterinary surgeon or a nominated responsible person at the practice who has been authorised by the veterinary surgeon.

The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons

There are general requirements for working with CDs in addition to those in the Veterinary Medicines Regulations (VMR), these requirements are different in Northern Ireland. Written prescription requirements as set out in the VMRsmust be met. To be valid, a written prescription must include: Many teams will have 2 or 3 places where CDs are stored (e.g. in 2 vehicles and a base reserve supply). If all these are in the same building a single register is okay; if different buildings, individual registers may need to be kept.