Work Area - Pharmacy
Pharmacy records are categorised in three sections for your ease, Community, Hospital and All Pharmacy disciplines. However Pharmacists should be aware that guidance in any of these sections may be applicable to your practice.
Community Pharmacy
| Ref | Record Type | Minimum Retention Period | Relevant Legislation / Derivation | Final Action |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| M1 | Accountable Officer Records | See GMGR Section J30 | ||
| M2 | Extemporaneous worksheets | 6 years | Destroy | |
| M3 | Patient Records | |||
| Patient Medication Record | Adults 6 years after the conclusion of treatment. Children and young people – Until the patient’s 25th birthday or 26th if the young person was 17 at the conclusion of treatment or 8 years after death. |
Destroy | ||
| Minor Ailments Service | Adults - 8 years after the conclusion of treatment Children and young people – Until the patient’s 25th birthday or 26th if the young person was 17 at the conclusion of treatment or 8 years after death. |
Destroy | ||
| Documented Clinical Interventions | 2 years | Destroy | ||
| Sexual Health Record | 10 years (in adults) or until 25th birthday in a child (age 26 if entry made when young person was 17), or 8 years after death | See also Guidance on the Retention and Disposal of Hospital Notes, British Association for Sexual Health and HIV (BASHH). |
Destroy | |
| Smoking cessation | 8 years after the conclusion of treatment. Children and young people – Until the patient’s 25th birthday or 26th if the young person was 17 at the conclusion of treatment or 8 years after death. |
Destroy | ||
| M4 | Prescriptions | |||
| Unlicensed Medicines / ‘Specials’ dispensing record | 5 years | MHRA Guidance Note 14 |
Destroy | |
| Private Prescription Book | 2 years after last entry (5 years after last entry for veterinary prescriptions) |
Destroy | ||
| M5 | Product Recalls | |||
| Those holding a wholesale dealer licence | Records must be maintained in accordance with the terms of the licence | Destroy | ||
| Pharmacies not holding a wholesale dealer licence | Records should be retained in accordance with professional guidance | Destroy | ||
| M6 | Requisitions | |||
| HS21S – copy of stock order | 2 years | Regulation 6 (3)(c) This is a legal requirement in certain circumstances. |
Destroy | |
| Stock requisitions (excluding controlled drugs and veterinary requisitions) | 2 years | Regulation 6 (3)(c) This is a legal requirement in certain circumstances. |
Destroy |
Hospital Pharmacy
| Ref | Record Type | Minimum Retention Period | Relevant Legislation / Derivation | Final Action |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| M7 | Accountable Officer Records | See GMGR Section J30 | Destroy | |
| M8 | Clinical / Trials | See GMGR Section J57 and GMGR Section J58 | ||
| M9 | External Orders and Delivery notes | 2 years after the financial year to which they relate | Destroy | |
| Picking tickets / ward delivery notes | 3 months (for a "reasonable" period for verification of order only) | Destroy | ||
| Ward / department requisition sheets & receipts | 2 years | Destroy | ||
| Requests made by ward pharmacists | 2 years | Destroy | ||
| Ward / Department Medicine Transfer Forms | 2 years | Destroy | ||
| Returns Dockets (wholesaler and ward / department | 2 years following the financial year to which they relate | Destroy | ||
| M10 | Medicines Information | |||
| Provision of Information to another person e.g. drug information enquiry | 8 years (enquiries relating to children, fertility, gynaecology and obstetrics should be kept for up to 25 years) | PJ Online Advice: How to Keep Proper Pharmacy Records | Destroy | |
| Clinical Interventions | Record to be added to patient’s notes / Patient Medication Record and retain for the period of time appropriate to the patient/speciality . Within the hospital setting the duplicate should be kept for 2 years. Clinically significant interventions should be recorded directly on the patient's notes. | PJ Online Advice: How to Keep Proper Pharmacy Records | Destroy | |
| M11 | Patients’ Own Drugs | |||
| Consent for and destruction of POD (excluding controlled drugs) | 6 months | PJ Online Advice: How to Keep Proper Pharmacy Records | Destroy | |
| Overdose / poisoning drug records | 3 years where there is police involvement / coroners inquest 1 year for all others |
Destroy | ||
| M12 | Prescriptions | |||
| Chemotherapy / Cytotoxic | 2 years after last chemotherapy treatment | PJ Online Advice: How to Keep Proper Pharmacy Records | Destroy | |
Discharge, outpatient, skin clinic and private prescriptions, Parenteral Nutrition. CIVAS and Specialist Medicines Prescriptions. |
2 years | PJ Online Advice: How to Keep Proper Pharmacy Records | Destroy | |
| Unlicensed Medicines / Dispensing record, | 5 years | For supply of unlicensed medicines Requirement of MHRA Guidance Note No.14. |
Destroy | |
| Consultant authorisation letter | 5 years | Destroy | ||
| Immunoglobulin / blood products | 30 years | PJ Online Advice: How to Keep Proper Pharmacy Records | Destroy | |
| M13 | Product Defect Forms | |||
| Product Recall– DHSSPS & Ward recall Records | 5 years – No legal / statutory requirements | Destroy | ||
| M14 | Quality Assurance | |||
| Equipment validation / calibration | See GMGR Section D1 | Destroy | ||
| Environmental monitoring results | 1 year after the expiry dates of products | PJ Online Advice: How to Keep Proper Pharmacy Records | Destroy | |
| Quality Control documentation, certificates of analysis | 5 years or 1 year after expiry date of batch, whichever is longer. | PJ Online Advice: How to Keep Proper Pharmacy Records | Destroy | |
| Medical gas testing | Records retained throughout the lifetime of the installation and 2 years after installation has been modified or retested or closure of the facility. | Destroy | ||
| M15 | Records for Ambulance Bags and Resuscitation boxes | 1 year after the expiry of the longest dated item | PJ Online Advice: How to Keep Proper Pharmacy Records | Destroy |
| M16 | Security | |||
| List of Users ID & Privileges | See GMGR Section H9 | Destroy | ||
Departmental on-call records, duty rotas. (Records of community pharmacy rotas will be managed by HSCB) |
See GMGR Section L13 | Destroy | ||
| M17 | Staff signature lists | Duration of Contract plus 1 year | PJ Online Advice: How to Keep Proper Pharmacy Records | Destroy |
| M18 | Stock checks and stock adjustments | See GMGR Section J61 | Destroy | |
| M19 | Worksheets | |||
Chemotherapy/ aseptics, Parenteral Nutrition, PCA worksheets Production batch records Raw material request and control forms |
5 years Where product liability exists this is extended up to 11 years after expiry. For paediatric worksheets product liability extends to up to 28 years |
PJ Online Advice: How to Keep Proper Pharmacy Records | Destroy |
All Pharmacy Disciplines
| Ref | Record Type | Minimum Retention Period | Relevant Legislation / Derivation | Final Action |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| M20 | Controlled Drug (CD) | |||
| Requisitions | 2 year HSC Organisations Community Pharmacy HS21S – copy retained for 2 years. Private requisitions - forwarded to and retained by BSO |
Misuse of Drugs Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2002 |
Destroy | |
| Bearer’s note | 2 years | Destroy | ||
| Midwife’s Supply Order | 2 years | Misuse of Drugs Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2002 |
Destroy | |
Pharmacy Controlled Drugs Registers |
2 years from the date of last entry although it is recommended that Community Pharmacies retain them for 5 years and Hospital Pharmacies retain them for 11 years. | Destroy | ||
| Ward / Department CD Record Books (ward registers) | 11 years from last entry | Recommendation of 11 years based on NI response to 4th Report Shipman Inquiry | Destroy | |
| Destruction of patients' own Controlled Drugs | No Legal Requirement although it is recommended that Community Pharmacies retain them for 5 years and Hospital Pharmacies retain them for 7 years. | Destroy | ||
| M21 | Competency / training records | See GMGR Section L49 | Destroy | |
| M22 | Invoices | See GMGR Section F30 | Destroy | |
| M23 | Medication Incidents | See GMGR Section A2 – A4 and GMGR Section A6 | Destroy | |
| Records of internal pharmacy dispensing errors which are near misses and their associated statistics | One year plus current year (or longer if specified by professional guidance or organisational policy) | PJ Online Advice: How to Keep Proper Pharmacy Records | Destroy | |
| M24 | Patient Group Directions (PGDs) | See GMGR Section G87 | Destroy | |
| M25 | Private Prescriptions | 2 years (5 years for original or copy of veterinary prescriptions) | Destroy | |
| M26 | Refrigerator temperature records | 5 years | Destroy | |
| M27 | Record of Medicines posted / delivered to patients Record of patient consent for collection or delivery service |
2 years from last entry | Supplementary Guidance for Pharmacists in Northern Ireland on the Provision of Prescription Collection and/or Delivery Services February 2011 |
Destroy |
| M28 | Responsible Pharmacist Pharmacy record | 5 years | Regulation 5(4) of the Medicines (Pharmacies) (Responsible Pharmacist) Regulations 2008 (SI 2008/2789) |
Destroy |
| M29 | Superseded standard operating procedures | 15 years | PJ Online Advice: How to Keep Proper Pharmacy Records | Destroy |