Poisons and Vet Meds Sept 2025-2026

6PY011 Practical application of Poisons legislation September 2025 Sarah Hughes and Jyoti Buxani Learning Outcomes • By the end of this session, you should be able to: • Outline the main requirements of the Poisons Act 1972. • Apply the legislation requirements to practice based examples. Why would a pharmacist be concerned about…. Poisons Act 1972 • To classify (in “Parts”) and regulate how poisons and chemicals are used. Part 1 – Explosive Precursors e.g. Hydrogen peroxide over 12% w/w Part 2 – Regulated non-medicinal poisons e.g. Oxalic acid over 10% w/w Part 3 – Reportable explosive precursors e.g. Aluminium nitrate Part 4 – Reportable non-medicinal poisons e.g. Formaldehyde • A Home Office Licence is required to purchase the most dangerous poisons or explosive precursors (parts 1 and 2). • https://www.rpharms.com/resources/pharmacy-guides/poisons-andchemicals#reporting Poisons Act 1972 Supply of Part 1 and 2 • As a Pharmacist you must: • Check the purchaser has a valid Home Office licence • Check the licence is unaltered and in-date • Check ID - supplies CANNOT be made to third party • Check substance requested and total quantity match the details on the licence • Record the transaction details onto the licence. Poisons Act 1972 Supply of Part 3 and 4 • Supplies do not require the purchaser to hold a Home Office licence. • If your pharmacy supplies poisons or chemicals, before agreeing, consider: • Whether the request is suspicious. • Whether appropriate commercial alternatives and sellers are available. What would imply a Suspicious transaction? • Purchaser unsure about what the substance is for or how it’s used • Requests for unusually large quantities • Repeated requests • Reluctance to provide proof of ID or address • Pays with cash • Significant or unusual losses. Any request that “doesn’t feel right” to you – trust your gut instinct! Application of the Poisons Act to Pharmacy Practice • Pharmacies have a duty to report to the police or anti-terrorism hotline: • Suspicious transactions • Theft • Significant stock loss • The duty to "report" applies to attempted transactions and requests, even if a substance is not available from the seller. • When a request to purchase a poison is made and a licence is required, pharmacies need to check the licence is valid, unaltered and matches the request. • When a request to purchase a poison is made and a licence is NOT required, Pharmacists need to consider if there are more appropriate suppliers or if the request is suspicious. Poisons Act – Labelling Requirements • Part 1 and 2: • Labelling needs to be compliant with the CLP (Classification, Labelling and Packaging) Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 • Must be labelled ‘Acquisition, possession or use by the general public is restricted’ or similar wording. • Part 3 and 4: • Labelling needs to be compliant with the CLP CLP (Classification, Labelling and Packaging) Regulations • The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is the Great Britain CLP Agency. • You have a legal duty to understand your obligations and duties under GB CLP if you’re: • a GB-based manufacturer, importer, downstream user or distributor who places chemicals on the GB market (known as a GB-based supplier) • If a substance that appears in the Great Britain Manufacturing Classification List GB MCL List, you must use the mandatory classification and labelling that appears in that list. Poisons Act – Record Keeping • If a licence is required: • Transactions recorded on the back of the licence • Part 2 Poisons transactions are recorded in the Poisons register: • • • • Date of supply Name & address of purchaser Purpose of purchase Signature of purchaser. Learning Outcomes Recap… • Can you…. • Outline the main requirements of the Poisons Act 1972? • Apply the legislation requirements to practice based examples? Recommended further reading • RPS Poisons and Chemicals guide: https://www.rpharms.com/resourc es/pharmacy-guides/poisons-and-chemicals • The Poisons Act 1972: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1972/66/contents • Poisons Act 1972 (Explosives Precursors) (Amendment) Regulations 2 018 https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2023/810/regulation/2/made • CLP regulations: https://www.hse.gov.uk/chemical-classification/legal/clp-regulation.h tm Poisons Quiz Time- True or False… 1. Part 2 poisons need a valid Home Office Licence. 2. You would need to ask for ID for a person purchasing a part 3 poison. 3. Part 1 and Part 2 poisons only need to meet the CLP labelling requirements. 4. Part 2 poisons are recorded in the poisons register. 5. The purchaser needs to sign the poisons register. 6PY011 Practical application of Veterinary Medicines September 2025 Jyoti Buxani and Sarah Hughes Learning outcomes • To know about the different classifications of Veterinary medicines. • To learn about updates. • To be able to apply knowledge of Veterinary medicines to practical examples. Veterinary Medicines The Medicines Act 1968 does NOT apply to veterinary medicines. The Veterinary Medicines Regulations 2013 (VMR) set out the legal controls on the production, distribution, possession, dispensing & administration of veterinary medicines. *This has been since updated 17th May 2024.* The Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) licenses veterinary medicines. A Veterinary Products Committee provides independent scientific advice to the VMD on e.g. applications for marketing authorisations etc. Classifications Changes to Veterinary Medicines Regulations 2024 1) Medicine sales via pharmacies/dispensaries online. 2) SQP supply 3) Written prescriptions- All written prescriptions must contain the phrase: “It is an offence under the Veterinary Medicines Regulations 2013 for a person to alter a written prescription unless authorised to do so by the person who signed it”. The idea is to remind people that this is illegal. Changes to Veterinary Medicines Regulations 2024 4) Record keeping when prescribing ANY medication 5) Changes to use of antibiotic use 6) Withdrawal periods for food producing-species 7) Tighter rules on the use of the Cascade system Record keeping requirements • • • • • • Name of the medicine Date of the receipt or supply Batch number Quantity Name and address of the supplier or recipient If there is a written prescription, record the name and address of the prescriber and keep a copy of the prescription. Record keeping requirements continued • N.B. Pharmacists can either keep all documents that show the required information • OR can make appropriate records in their private prescription book. • Records can be kept electronically • Records and documents must be kept for at least five years • Pharmacies that supply POM-V and POM-VPS medicines must undertake an annual audit. The Veterinary Cascade System It is illegal to supply a human medicine against a veterinary prescription unless prescribed by a vet AND the prescription states: ‘for administration under the Cascade’ (or similar wording) The Cascade is an exemption in the VMRs – where a licensed veterinary product is not available other medicines may be considered in line with the veterinary Cascade. The Veterinary Cascade System Veterinary medicines activity 1 • Access the VMD Product Information Database: http://www.vmd.defra.gov.uk/ProductInformationDatabase • What is the classification of the following drugs and which animal(s)? Rabisin Vanguard Lepto ci Veloxa XL Chewable Tablets Voxical Plus Tablets Veterinary medicines activity 2 • Complete the table below by referring to Schedule 3, Part 1 of the VMR for the four main categories of veterinary medicines. The Veterinary Medicines (Amendment etc.) Regulations 2024 https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2024/567/part/3/made Veterinary medicines activity 2 Veterinary medicines activity 3 Meet Winnie and Autumn… Veterinary medicines activity 3 • Sarah Hughes has a sausage dog named Winnie, aged 1. Sarah suffers with hayfever and has been sneezing a lot. Unfortunately, Winnie has also been suffering with hayfever symptoms. • Sarah Hughes comes into your Community Pharmacy to purchase some Piriton 4mg tablets. She has given them to her other dog Autumn before. What are your thoughts? Recommended resources for further reading MEP- Medicines, Ethics and Practice Accessible with membership:- this is free for all students (and a very useful resource). P102-P107 MEP July 2025 Edition 48 3.5 Veterinary Medicines (rpharms.com) Dale and Appelbe’s Pharmacy and Medicine Law by David Reissner and Christopher Langley 13 th edition. Chapter 15 Veterinary medicines P358-P391. Changes in legislation Veterinary Medicines Regulations 17 May 2024 https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-veterinary-medicines-regulations-coming-into-force-on-17-may-2024 The Veterinary Medicines (Amendments) Regulations 2024 https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2024/9780348258523 NOAH- National Office of Animal health https://www.noahcompendium.co.uk/?id=-312921 DEFRA- The department of environment food and rural affairs https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-environment-food-rural-affairs