Shipman drug rules flouted – watchdog
Medicine management team focuses on ‘anomalies’
Published: 21 October, 2010
by TOM FOOT
STRICT regulations introduced to monitor the supply of lethal drugs in the wake of the Dr Harold Shipman serial killings are being flouted in Camden, a report has found.
NHS Camden has raised concerns that controlled drugs (CDs) are routinely being prescribed “unlawfully”, poorly accounted for and are being stolen.
Forged prescriptions, unexplained doses and boxes of out-of-date drugs piling up in pharmacies also emerged as “common themes” in a report of the Medicines Management Team.
An investigation into dozens of “anomalies” revealed powerful heroin substitutes and Ritalin – used to control hyperactive children with Attention Deficit Disorder but also popular for recreational use among young adults – are being prescribed in “excessive quantities”.
In a report to board members, NHS Camden’s deputy controlled drugs Accountable Officer said: “Following the Shipman Inquiry, there was widespread concern about the way in which Shipman had been able to obtain diamorphine and kill patients over a long time period.
“In 2009, 82 prescribers were contacted to explain anomalies in prescribing which were considered unusual ... In some cases, anomalies could not be explained and that the prescription was not clinically appropriate ... a large majority of data input errors were being produced by staff.”
New Department of Health regulations were introduced in January 2007 when NHS Camden Medicines Management Team was set up to monitor all controlled drugs.
Prescribers – which include GPs and pharmacists – were not properly trained and “do not keep up to date with recent legislation”.
Private providers were also criticised for not properly following guidelines.
The NHS Camden Medicines Management Team is reviewing medicines policies for care homes and working more closely with care home managers.
Dr Paddy Glackin, representing Camden doctors as secretary of Camden’s Londonwide Medical Committee, said the figures represented a small percentage of total prescriptions made in Camden and that mistakes would always be made from time to time.
He said: “This is not something we have heard about and the report hasn’t been represented to the LMC.
“Doctors cannot be blamed for forged prescriptions and we, of course, encourage doctors to be as safe as we can. I am not aware of any systemic problems.
“On Ritalin, I have increasingly seen quite a number of young adults – quite high-flying people – who arrive from Canada and the US from where Ritalin is prescribed.”