Controlled drugs: safe use and management: guideline consultation

You can now review and comment on this draft guideline.

The consultation closes on 25 November 2015 at 5pm

How to comment

1. Register your organisation

Your organisation needs to be registered as a stakeholder before we can accept comments.

Not eligible? Contact the stakeholder organisation on the Stakeholder list that most closely represents your interests and pass your comments to them.

2. Read the consultation documents

Documents to comment on:

• Draft guideline
• Short version of draft guideline – just the recommendations
• Guideline appendices

 Other information about the consultation

• Equality impact assessment
• Developing NICE guidelines: how to get involved

3. Add your comments

• You must use this Comments form
• You must declare any links with, or funding from, the tobacco industry

If you share similar views with another organisation, send a joint response.

Make sure you consider:

• The areas that will have the biggest impact on practice and be challenging to implement
• How to help users overcome challenges

Please use the stakeholder comments form to give us your views on these questions:

1. Which areas will have the biggest impact on practice and be challenging to implement? Please say for whom and why.
   
   
2. What would help users overcome any challenges? (For example, existing practical resources or national initiatives, or examples of good practice.)
   
   
3. How should the recommendations be arranged to help make the guideline easy to use? For example, could grouping them differently or using different headings help users find the relevant recommendations more easily?.    

In addition to providing us with comments on all the recommendations, we would also like stakeholders to draw particular attention to the recommendations below (recommendation numbering is from the short version):

1.1.42 Consider developing a standard operating procedure for carrying out stock checks of all controlled drugs entered into the controlled drugs register. The procedure should include:

• checking the balance in the controlled drugs register against current stock
• measurements of liquid balances and checks of remaining liquid stock when finishing a bottle
• the frequency of stock checks, which should be determined using a risk assessment and should be at least once a week
• recording stock checks in the controlled drugs register along with the date and signature of the health professional carrying out the check.

For recommendation 1.1.42, please provide comments on the feasibility of carrying out stock checks with a minimum frequency of once a week.

1.1.68    Consider developing standard operating procedures for audits of controlled drugs registers and cabinets that include, but are not limited to:

• identifying the person responsible for auditing
• the frequency of audits
• reporting and managing discrepancies between stocks and records.

For recommendation 1.1.68, please provide comments on types of audits that could be helpful in practice to audit controlled drugs registers and cabinets.

Developing NICE guidelines: how to get involved suggests some other areas to comment on.

4. Email the form to us

Email: cdmpg@nice.org.uk

Deadline: 25 November 2015, 5pm