Services Database Supervised Consumption

Supervised consumption aids adherence and can be helpful to reduce the risk of diversion and safeguarding issues. Additionally, more frequent contact can enable development of a therapeutic relationship and provides additional opportunities for providing timely and supportive advice, escalation of concerns and monitoring of the service user. It is important that supervised consumption is considered for all new prescriptions and that the dispensing arrangements are liberalised as soon as it is safe and clinically appropriate to do so; however, it may be reinstated when required to manage risks accordingly. Community pharmacies are ideally placed to provide supervised consumption within an agreed and structured protocol.

• This Service may only be undertaken by competent Pharmacy staff (as outlined below) who must be under the supervision of the Responsible Pharmacist registered with the GPhC.
• The Responsible Pharmacist must have completed Safeguarding training to Level 2 and be DBSchecked in line with current guidance, which must be rechecked/updated in response to any legislative/best practice guidance changes. The Responsible Pharmacist must ensure the suitability of any Pharmacy staff who are one-to-one with a vulnerable service user.
• The Responsible Pharmacist must have completed self-declaration via PharmOutcomes to confirm completion of relevant CPPE substance misuse training within 3 months of commencing service provision.
• Staff who are deemed as suitably competent to undertake the Service must be recorded as such on the Pharmacy’s local Standard Operating Procedure for Supervised Consumption.
• It is the responsibility of the Pharmacy to ensure that the staff undertaking the Service have received appropriate training, including completion of relevant supervised consumption
  competencies/accreditation.
• Where locums or part time staff predominantly operate a pharmacy, the Superintendent Pharmacist or delegated deputy must nominate a lead person to act as a contact. This must be communicated to Humankind promptly.
• Humankind will seek to provide at least one training event per year which will usually be available for access by the wider Pharmacy Team (including locum staff), to support broader development of competency and confidence in the management of substance misuse. The Pharmacy must be represented by at least one member of staff at a minimum of one event per year.
• The Responsible Pharmacist on duty at any time will retain professional responsibility and the Pharmacy shall retain liability for the Service.