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Section 3:
Responsibilities in the Safe and Secure Handling of Medicines within the hospital service

3.1	Responsibilities in the safe and secure handling of medicines within the hospital service: The role of the Pharmacy
3.1.1	The Director of Pharmacy is responsible for organising, monitoring and reporting on a system for ensuring the safe and secure handling of medicines, on behalf of the Chief Executive, NHS Tayside. He/she shall ensure that wherever responsibility for medicines is transferred from one individual to another it is on a defined and documented basis.
3.1.2	The Director of Pharmacy is responsible for establishing a secure and workable system for the procurement, ordering, distribution and storage of medicines. Procedures for systems to ensure the safe and secure handling of medicines shall be drawn up by the Director of Pharmacy in consultation with appropriate members of the medical, nursing and administrative staff.
3.1.3	The system shall be monitored by the Director of Pharmacy to ensure it is working satisfactorily.
3.1.4	The Director of Pharmacy may delegate these duties to pharmacists responsible for particular areas of care.
3.1.5	An agreed senior member of pharmacy staff shall be accountable for the distribution of medicines from the pharmacy.
3.1.6	The Senior Clinical Pharmacist shall decide, in consultation with medical staff and the senior nursing appointment for the ward or department with continuing responsibility, the amounts and the range of medicines to be supplied to and stocked in wards/units/departments.
3.1.7	At determined intervals reconciliation of pharmacy stocks with records shall take place. Any discrepancies shall be investigated, enlisting the help of other disciplines where appropriate.
3.1.8	A record shall be kept of all stock checks made, including the identities of the staff members carrying out those checks.
3.1.9	Guidance is provided on handling incidents where criminal offence is suspected in NHS HDL (2002) 23 and Section 30 the NHS Tayside Fraud Policy.
3.1.10	Incidents involving errors in prescribing, dispensing or administering medicines are the subject of separate policies, which must be followed. See Section 29.
3.2	Responsibilities in the safe and secure handling of medicines within the hospital service: The role of the Nurse in Charge
3.2.1	The senior nurse in charge has overall responsibility for ensuring that the procedures are followed and that security of medicines is maintained. The Senior Pharmacist shall be notified of all discrepancies whether detected by pharmacy or other staff, and shall ensure the appropriate investigations and reports in accordance with NHS Tayside procedures for handling of incidents.
3.2.2	The senior nursing appointment for the ward or department must notify the Senior Pharmacist and the appropriate line manager responsible for the service of any discrepancies detected in ward procedures, ward stock, deliveries, etc.
3.2.3	The senior nursing appointment for the ward or department may delegate some of the duties but remains responsible for all aspects of security of medicines.
3.2.4	All nurses must be familiar with the NMC Standards for Medicines Management.
3.3	Responsibilities in the safe and secure handling of medicines within the hospital service: The role of the Medical Staff and other Healthcare Staff
	All staff involved in handling medicines are responsible for following the principles and procedures laid out in this document.