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Theft of medicines is a serious criminal offence under the Medicines Act 1968, the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 and other legislation and will be dealt with accordingly by NHS Tayside, professional regulatory bodies and the police.

30.1	Any member of staff who has reason to believe that medicines have been taken without authority has a duty to report their concerns to the Nurse in Charge of the clinical area/ Line Manager.
30.2	All concerns will be treated in the strictest confidence regardless of whether the subsequent review substantiates these concerns. All investigations must be carried out in a discreet manner.
30.3	The Nurse in Charge/ Line Manager must take reasonable steps to ensure that medicines are in fact missing, for example check administration records; cupboards not normally used for storage of medicines and pharmacy delivery records.
30.4	If the Nurse in Charge/ Line Manager is unable to satisfy him or herself that all medicines can be accounted for, they must report their suspicions to the Senior Clinical Pharmacist and the relevant Service Manager at the earliest opportunity. If immediate action is required, consideration should be given to contacting the police.
30.5	Where a Service Manager/Senior Clinical Pharmacist has been informed of suspected/ actual theft of medicines, he/she must inform the relevant professional lead(s) and the Head of Pharmacy/Accountable Officer for CDs who will liaise with the Fraud Liaison Officer (FLO) and agree a course of action commensurate with the circumstances presented, which may include referring the matter to Counter Fraud Services or the Police.
30.6	Should the result of the preliminary review identify any evidence of actual theft, the Service Manager/Senior Clinical Pharmacist must report this to the relevant professional lead(s) and Head of Pharmacy/Accountable Officer for CDs. Any evidence must be retained pending further investigation.
30.7	The NHS Tayside Code of Corporate Governance Fraud Standards (Section D) Annex 1 Misappropriation of Medicines must be followed in all cases of suspected/actual theft of medicines. Click here for Section D.
30.8	Note that the Significant Event Management Policy must also be followed in the event of any such incident.
Click here for suspected or actual theft of medicines flowchart.