1) What Legislation Is in Place to Help You Administer Medication Safely? Give an Account of How This Affects Your Work.

Unit 616
Medication Questions

1) What legislation is in place to help you administer medication safely? Give an account of how this affects your work.

The Medicines Act 1968 Regulates the supply and manufacture of medicines and defines the three categories of medicine: Prescription only, pharmacy medicines and general sales list.

This affects my work in that it tells me which types of medicine I can simply pick up over the counter (for example, if someone I supported had a minor problem such as a cold, by consulting this legislation I would know which drugs I would be able to pick up without a prescription). It also categorises the medication which I currently administer and gives me an idea of how different types of medications are classified. For example, many times in the setting I work in, medication orders will be repeat prescriptions. For this, correct information must be supplied: name of service user, name and strength of medication and amount ordered sufficient for the time period.

The Misuse of Drugs Act 1972 Categorises banned substances into bands A, B, and C. This tells me that administering certain drugs would result in me breaking the law. It outlines what is legal to administer and what isn’t. Also this act outlines the legal requirement to store controlled drugs in locked cabinets and keep a record (controlled drugs register) of stock numbers, expiry dates etc. At our workplace we administer several controlled drugs such as diazepam, so this legislation affects me in the way that is outlines my legal responsibilities for storing and safely administering these drugs.

Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 This act informs me of mine and my employer’s duties at work and tells me what is required of my employer to ensure the working environment is safe.

Care Standards Act 2000 Establishes national minimum standards in order to meet the needs of the people we support. For example, some of the people we support like to administer their own medication and all information regarding their medication must be available for them to access at any time.

Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 This act outlines the requirements of employers to protect their employees from the hazards of substances used in the workplace. Medication comes under this act and it outlines principles for recording, safekeeping, handling and disposal of medicines, all things we deal with on a regular basis.