Controlled Drug Legislation
The UK Government introduced certain changes to the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001. It is important to note that even though this legislation was passed on the 30th April 2020 it will only be “activated” if needed and under very specific circumstances. You can find our summary of the legislation and the issues it raises for frontline pharmacists here.
Responsible Pharmacist Regulations
These regulations have been in force since 1st October 2009. The law has not been changed or amended for the pandemic. However, despite these regulations being in operation for over 10 years, it seems that some large corporate owners have attempted to reinterpret them for commercial gain. We appreciate that the Regulator, in the public interest, made one very specific dispensation, to be used in a very specific circumstance. However, some corporate owners seem to have taken this as a license to reinterpret all the legislation.
We are posting a series of Guidance Notes to ensure that the legislation is interpreted and understood in the manner that Parliament originally intended. This may be helpful as recently a significant number of PDA members have repeatedly been confronted with the scenarios described in the Guidance Notes.
You can find the guidance notes here.
Flu Vaccination Service 2020-2021
It may seem early to be thinking about this, but rest assured that it is not. We have been studying the situation in New Zealand and Australia where the flu vaccinations for their upcoming winter are taking place now. We urge you to think about this early as it will be critically important in light of the coronavirus that the elderly and at-risk groups have the flu vaccination in a timely manner. We also need to ensure the safety of our team members especially as most pharmacies are small and consulting rooms even smaller.
You can read about the amended training and other information here.