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Proper drug storage is essential to ensure the safety of yourself, your family, and those around you. This is especially important if you are taking multiple medications and need to keep track of them all. Knowing how to store drugs correctly can help prevent misuse or accidental ingestion by children or pets. Here are six important guidelines about proper drug storage that everyone should follow: 1. KEEP ALL MEDICATIONS IN THEIR ORIGINAL, LABELED CONTAINERS: Using alternative storage containers can make it difficult to identify medications or keep track of expiration dates. Keeping medications in their original containers also prevents accidental misuse and helps ensure that the correct dosage is taken. In addition, it's important to store all medications out of reach of children and pets. Also, keep medications in a cool, dry place away from direct sunlight. For example, a medicine cabinet in the bathroom or kitchen is a good option. 2. DISPOSE OF EXPIRED MEDICATIONS: Expired medications can be less effective and even potentially harmful if taken, so it's important to regularly check expiration dates and get rid of any outdated medications. The best way to dispose of old drugs is to take them to a drug collection site. If no such sites are available, mix the medication with something like coffee grounds, put it in an opaque container, and then throw it away in your trash bin. Never flush expired medication down the toilet unless instructed by your pharmacist or healthcare provider! 3. STORE DRUGS IN A COOL, DRY PLACE: Extreme temperatures can cause medications to break down and become ineffective. To avoid this, keep all drugs away from direct sunlight, heat sources, and moisture. A medicine cabinet or drawer in the bathroom is an ideal spot for storing most drugs, but some require special storage conditions (more on that below). Different medications should also be separated from one another to avoid confusion and stored differently. For example, if a

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS)'s new research (YouGov poll) revealed that one in five of UK adults (19%) keep their medicines in the bathroom. The research revealed, "Almost one in two (45%) of UK adult keep their medicines in the kitchen, which could also cause problems. RPS Chief Scientist Professor Parastou Donyai said: "It's important to store your medicines in the right place as this could affect how they work. "Medicines should be stored in a cool, dry place and are particularly affected by heat and moisture. Keeping your medicines in the same place as where you have baths and showers could make your medicines less effective or spoil them. "Instead keep your medicines in another room, for example your bedroom or if you keep them in the kitchen, make sure this is in a kitchen cabinet, away from sources of heat such as the hob, oven or windowsill. If you have small children or pets in the home, always make sure your medicines are kept in a lockable storage box somewhere out of their reach and sight."

Storing your medication properly is important. Only if they have their place in the house will you and your family members always know where to find their supplements, pain relief medications, and others. In this article, we'll try to give you some guidelines on how to manage your medication and develop a system that will work well for you and your family. Also, since medicine safety is so important, we'll share some simple tips on making sure all medications are good and when is the right time to toss them. 1. USE A BOX 2. KEEP YOUR MEDICATION IN A COLD AND DRY PLACE 3. COLOR CODE YOUR MEDICATION 4. DISPOSE OF MEDICINE 5. ORGANIZE YOUR MEDICINE ON THE GO 6. KEEP IT NEAT Once you find a place where medicine won't experience extreme temperatures, humidity, and strong sunlight, get a nice set of boxes and take one afternoon to make it neat and organized. Even if you're taking specific medication, ask your pharmacist what's the best place to store them. Sometimes, it might turn out that it's your fridge, but a kitchen might also be a good place to start thinking about.

The Equality Act (which replaced the Disability Discrimination Act in 2010) is often cited as a reason for supplying medicines in a compliance aid. This is a complex piece of legislation, but, in essence, provides a statutory duty on businesses to make "reasonable adjustments" in relation to the service that they provide to take into account any relevant disability of a service-users. This statutory obligation might include the provision of a compliance aid where a patient would be at a "substantial disadvantage" without. However, the need to provide medicines in a compliance aid under the Equality Act needs careful consideration and is a balancing exercise. The NHS Terms of Service for community pharmacies in England state that medicines should be provided in original packs save in certain circumstances, which include because of patient needs.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory (MHRA) and Genomics England to launch a brand-new genetic research resource, known as a 'biobank' on Thursday (June 01) to tackle the issue of Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs). Biobank will help to better understand how a patient's genetic makeup can impact the safety of their medicines. "The Yellow Card biobank, which will contain genetic data and patient samples, will operate alongside the MHRA's Yellow Card reporting site for suspected side effects and adverse incidents involving medicines and medical devices," said MHRA. The biobank pilot will officially begin on 1 June 2023 with participant recruitment commencing later this year, on 1 September. The sequencing of participants' genetic material will begin in Spring 2024, with initial research findings from the pilot due to be published in 2025. Genomics England will be supporting the MHRA with sequencing and storage of genetic material through use of their well-established and secure infrastructure.

Blackwells Chemist, a community pharmacy in South East London did not meet all the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) standards. The pharmacy was inspected on Thursday (01 June) and it was found it did not keep all its records up to date and accurate, particularly its responsible pharmacist records. Investigation report stated that the principle of Governance and principle of Services, including medicines management was 'not met at all'. Under the principle Governance, the report stated: "The pharmacy generally manages the risks associated with its services adequately. People using the pharmacy can provide feedback or raise concerns. And staff generally protect people's personal information well. Team members know what to do to help protect the welfare of a vulnerable person. The pharmacy has written procedures, but these are not easily accessible to team members to refer to. And they are not regularly updated. So, they may be less useful to staff, and may not reflect current best practice." In the inspection it was found that the pharmacy does not always store its medicines properly. It cannot show that it stores all its medicines requiring cold storage at the appropriate temperatures.

The Scottish government is planning to publish its review report on use of automated technology in community pharmacies by the end of 2023. The technology being trialled as part of the pilot includes robotic process automation, automated medicine storage systems, barcode scanners and prescription collection kiosks. The evaluation, which started prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, is due to be completed at the end of November 2023. Patricia Findlay, professor of work and employment relations at the University of Strathclyde, who was commissioned to produce the report, told The Pharmaceutical Journal that the pilot pharmacies taking part in the scheme are all based in Scotland, but she didn't reveal their names.

Pharmacies are the lifeblood of community healthcare, being a vital pathway to care and support in every borough of the UK. There are 11,600 pharmacies across the country, amongst which yours stands proudly. Pharmacies obviously have a duty of care to their patients and customers, and rigorous safety practices surrounding the safe storage and dispensation of medicine - but that duty of care also extends to fellow staff. This is to say that health and safety is a paramount concern for any pharmacy or pharmacist, and that great care should always be taken to uphold the highest possible standards with regard to health and safety. With this in mind, what follows is a refresher on some of the key hazards that could give way to workplace injury in your pharmacy - and how to mitigate the risk of injury. Biological Hazards Biological hazards are ever-present, and prescient in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic. Though the COVID-19 virus was eventually shown not to be particularly resilient on surfaces, good practice was still to regularly disinfect surfaces and handles where possible - something which should still be a part of regular routine in your pharmacy. Likewise, face masks are a solid way to reduce the risk of infection or contamination, particularly where the handing over of biological samples is concerned.

An off licence has had its licence suspended after a team from Ealing Council found unmarked illegal items on the premises. Harcharan Singh claimed he was allowing locals to store their medicines at his shop, King Quality Foods, while they visited the nearby temple. Singh's representative, Surendra Panchal, told the panel about the reasons which baffled the chair of the licensing sub-committee, Cllr Anthony Kelly. Cllr Kelly did not comprehend how a package of drugs would be difficult to fit in someone's bag, pocket, or car. The officials found drugs including high blood pressure and diabetes medication at the store.