Pregabalin 75mg capsules: MHRA batch alert

14th August 2015

There is a printing error on the foil of some blisters in the following batch of pregabalin 75mg capsules from Teva UK (Batch number: 018111). The strength is printed in several positions, however in some of the positions it is printed incorrectly as 25mg instead of 75mg. Stock is not being recalled. 

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CQC annual report: safer management of controlled drugs

14th August 2015

The UK Care Quality Commission (CQC) has published their 2014 annual report on the safer management of controlled drugs and made the following recommendations.

Recommendation for CQC

CQC should make information available to small organisations to advise them of the exemption provision in the regulations for the need to appoint a controlled drug accountable officer.

Recommendations for NHS England lead controlled drug accountable officers

NHS England lead controlled drug accountable officers should:

• use the changes to the regional structure from April 2015 as an opportunity to work more collaboratively so that there is greater national consistency of approach to delivering their controlled drug responsibilities

• engage with and formalise the support of clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) so that monitoring controlled drug prescription activity is a higher priority

• determine how best to engage with social care organisations in their area and should encourage local authorities to be engaged in controlled drug local intelligence networks (CD LINs).

Recommendations for NHS England

NHS England should provide guidance for occurrence reporting so that organisations understand what they need to report to the CD LIN.

Recommendation for all controlled drug accountable officers

Controlled drug accountable officers should share organisational learning from controlled drug-related incidents with their CD LINs and, where possible, develop links with their Medication Safety Officers to maximise these opportunities for learning.

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