Patient-facing colleagues are asked to familiarise themselves with the Medicines management policy (click on the link to visit the medicines management page, where the policy is) which has been updated with a few minor changes.
These include updates to:
2.0, authority to possess and supply (page 39):
3.0, ordering controlled drugs (page 39):
Individually issued morphine supplies for paramedics shall only be obtained through the agreed supply route for the locality:
4.0, storage of controlled drugs (page 41):
Paramedics and nurses, including managers, will need to be authorised to use controlled drugs and to have the need to transport these between locations. All effort should be made to reduce the need to hold medication outside of work time. This includes discussion with your line manager on storing at a station closer to home than your base/administration base. In addition, for staff working at alternative locations, additional wall mounted safes can be made available. This should be discussed with your line manager.
6.0, control and record keeping (page 44)
All controlled drug stocks, whether in date or awaiting disposal, should be audited by an authorised manager every day where practical, preferably in the morning. The check will be recorded on the Daily drug check form for the store. Any anomalies shall be immediately notified to a senior locality manager, who will instigate investigation and decide on any action to be taken.
Audit processes
A number of changes have been made to the medicines management audit process, which is of particular relevance to duty locality officers and senior locality managers. This includes changes to the:
Now, for all above, audit spreadsheet evidence has to be uploaded to HealthAssure and sent to medicinemanagement@eastamb.nhs.uk and clinical.leads@eastamb.nhs.uk.
You can download a copy of the policy to read on East24, but if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to email medicinemanagement@eastamb.nhs.uk.
Published 19th April, 2016