I can see OTP approval information on SafeScript NSW for my patient. Can I access this information or change any details of OTP approvals on SafeScript NSW?
The Poisons and Therapeutic Goods Regulation 2008 allows a pharmacist who practises at a community pharmacy to destroy a drug of addiction (Schedule 8 medicine) at the pharmacy in the presence of an independent witness. For more information see Destruction of Schedule 8 medicines by community pharmacists.
No. The nurse should return them to the nursing home. If you supply any medicine to the nursing home or its residents, you may go to the nursing home and destroy the unwanted Schedule 8 drugs on the premises in the presence of the Director of Nursing.
Yes, a pharmacist working in any retail pharmacy (not necessarily the original supplier of the drugs) may destroy a Schedule 8 drug belonging to a doctor (or dentist or vet), either at the pharmacy or on the premises where the practitioner practices. The pharmacist must record the destruction in the practitioner's drug register, including the date, the practitioner’s name, and the pharmacist’s name and professional registration number. The practitioner must witness the destruction and both the pharmacist and the practitioner must write their signature next to the entries.
The pharmacist does not take possession of the drugs nor enter them into the pharmacy's drug register.
The drugs must be made unrecoverable, de-identified and cause no danger to any person or undue damage to the natural environment. A pharmacist is not obliged to destroy drugs on request.
Prescriptions dispensed for Schedule 8 medicines (‘drugs of addiction’) must be retained for two years from the date of dispensing and must be kept on the premises where the prescription was dispensed. The prescriptions must also be kept apart from other (S4) prescriptions, except certain ‘specified’ barbiturates (e.g. amylobarbitone, methylphenobarbitone, pentobarbitone, phenobarbitone) and anabolic/androgenic steroidal agents. Further details are available in the Guide to Poisons and Therapeutic Goods Legislation for Pharmacists (TG79).
All drugs of addiction (Schedule 8 medicines) in a pharmacy must be kept locked in a safe at all times except when in immediate use. All keys to the safe which are in the pharmacy must be kept on the person of a pharmacist at all times the pharmacy is open, and must not be left on the premises (except locked in another safe) when the pharmacy is closed. The combination or code for the safe must never be disclosed to any staff member who is not a pharmacist.
No. You should never have a negative number in your drug register. Your drug register is a record of what you have in stock in your drug safe. If, for example, you are given a prescription for 40 tablets and you only have 20 in stock, you record in the drug register that you have supplied the 20 tablets with the prescription number. Once you receive a fresh supply from your wholesaler (which you will record in the register) you will then record the supply of the remaining 20 tablets with the appropriate date of that supply using the same prescription number.
No. A Schedule 8 drug (drug of addiction) cannot be ‘written out’ of a drug register just because it has expired or has become unusable. (It can be transferred to another page of the register if desired, by means of a clear entry in the register.)
The drug register must at all times reflect the actual quantities of all drugs of addiction currently in possession, regardless of whether the drugs are out-dated, unusable or no longer required and regardless of whether the drugs were obtained from a wholesaler for general stock use, from a pharmacy for emergency use, or from a patient (for example, where the patient's dispensed drugs are being held for safekeeping or convenience).
All persons engaged in the manufacture, distribution, sale, administration or supply of drugs of addiction must keep a register. Drug registers, as well as ward registers, can be purchased from the State Government printing contractor Finsbury Green.
To order a drug register from Finsbury Green :
Send an order request to Finsbury Green at: nswhealth@finsbury.com.au.
After receiving the order request, the purchaser will be contacted by an account manager to confirm order and freight charges.
All orders will need to be paid for by Credit Card at the time of placing the order. The following registers are available for purchase, with a minimum order of 1 book:
Finsbury Green Help Desk may be contacted by telephone on 1800 515 222 but only after an order has been placed.
Drug registers may also be purchased from some pharmaceutical wholesalers and the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia. Subsidiary Drug registers for the dosing of methadone, Subutex and Suboxone (each one has their own) are available from the NSW Pharmacy Guild – Phone: (02) 9467 7100.
If you are involved in the care of a patient under the Opioid Treatment Program (OTP) you can view a summary of their OTP information. This summary includes information such as the approval number, start and end dates, prescriber, patient, dose and dose information. You are also able to update dosing point details. Viewing and updating this information helps ensure patient safety and reduce risks such as double dosing.
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