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The GPhC has shared examples of safeguards pharmacies can implement to prevent their staff diverting medicines into illicit supply chains. 

The regulator said it has recently investigated claims of medicines ordered and then stolen by staff members, often involving prescription drugs that are liable to misuse or “have high monetary value,” such as weight loss medicines. 

The GPhC reminded pharmacy owners, pharmacists and pharmacy technicians that they have a responsibility to protect medicines from unauthorised access

“Superintendent pharmacists have particular responsibilities for the safe management of medicines at the pharmacies they over see, under the law and under our standards,” it emphasised in a statement earlier today (August 6). 

The statement set out a number of examples that GPhC inspectors have seen in operation to reduce the risk of theft, including capping the quantities in which certain medicines can be ordered and requesting that wholesalers inform superintendent pharmacists when “any unusual quantities” are ordered. 

The examples also included allocating responsibility for ordering medicines to specific staff members and setting “strong passwords” for wholesale accounts, as well as removing access from users who leave the pharmacy or change roles. 

Keeping records indicating which staff members have handled a wholesale delivery was also recommended, as was choosing a dedicated CCTV-monitored area of the pharmacy for processing medicine deliveries.

The regulator said inspectors have also been to pharmacies where strict safeguards are followed when recruiting staff, including making sure to obtain references and carry out disclosure and barring service (DBS) checks. 

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