What should hospitals and pharmacy professionals do with the Framework for Improving the Safety and Security of Controlled Substances in Hospital High Risk Areas?

Hospitals are encouraged to review the framework’s recommendations to look for opportunities to enhance their own management of Controlled Substances in high risk areas. There should be collaboration across the hospital to identify any gaps and implement any necessary changes to policies, procedures, reporting, or training.

Hospitals are encouraged to establish key performance indicators (KPIs) to evaluate their progress on improving the safety and security of Controlled Substances. Such indicators may include, but not be limited to, the number of Health Canada loss and theft reports, the number of confirmed diversions and the results of physical security and process audits on a regular basis to track the impact of their diversion prevention and mitigation strategies.

Pharmacists and pharmacy technicians working in hospitals are encouraged to become familiar with the recommendations, identify any gaps that might exist in their practice setting, and bring the framework to the attention of pharmacy and hospital leadership. It will be important to look for opportunities for collaboration with other healthcare professionals to identify where there is a role for pharmacy professionals to adjust, enhance or share practices around Controlled Substances