Medicines Management Policy - Dudley Primary Care Trust

10.3 Prescribing Controlled Drugs
10.3.1 Legal Prescription requirements
Prescriptions written for Schedule 2 and 3 controlled drugs and marked as CD
in the BNF, with the exception of temazepam and Phenobarbital are subject to
the following strict legal requirements (see relevant BNF section):
a) Be printed or written in ink, or other indelible substance
b) Specify the dose, dosage form (e.g. tablets) and where appropriate the
strength of the preparation.
c) State in words and figures the total quantity of the drug or total
number of dose units that are to be supplied or given.
d) Bear the patient/client's name, address and registration number.
e) Be dated
f) Be signed (not just initialled) by the prescriber.
g) Supply should be no more than 30 days supply (except in exceptional
clinical circumstances). N.B. On FP10MDA forms only 14 days supply
is permitted.
N.B.
* All CD prescriptions are valid for 28 days from date on prescription for
S2, 3 and 4 CDs (does not apply to S5).
* Dental prescriptions must have written the words “for dental
treatment only”.
10.3.2 Safety issues
(see NPSA alert 2008/RRR05 Reducing Dosing Errors with Opioid Medicines
http://www.npsa.nhs.uk/nrls/alerts-and-directives/rapidrr/reducing-dosingerrors-with-opioid-medicines/
)
When opioid medicines are prescribed, dispensed or administered, in anything
other than acute emergencies, the healthcare practitioner concerned, or their
clinical supervisor, should:
• Confirm any recent opioid dose, formulation, frequency of administration and
any other analgesic medicines prescribed for the patient. This may be done for
example through discussion with the patient or their representative (although
not in the case of treatment for addiction), the prescriber or through medication
records.
• Ensure where a dose increase is intended, that the calculated dose is safe for
the patient (e.g. for oral morphine or oxycodone in adult patients, not normally
more than 50% higher than the previous dose).
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