The European Association of Hospital Pharmacists (EAHP) is looking for new members to join the Special Interest Group (SIG) on Controlled Substances Management in European Hospitals. The SIG will kick off its work in March 2023. This SIG is financially supported by BD.

While controlled drugs (CDs) are essential to modern clinical care, research suggests that managing controlled substances is a complex and time-consuming process. Challenges with the management of CDs in a hospital, including the pharmacy, wards, and departments, include time-intensive mandatory record keeping processes and physical reconciliation of stock, often further compounded by inadequate storage facilities and capacity.

Innovative and efficient solutions like Automated Dispensing Cabinets and related software have the potential to increase the efficiency of medicine logistics, to relieve staff while at the same time improving dispensing safety and specify documentation processes where they are particularly required. At present, however, the legal framework conditions do not yet allow the use of such technology for the storage and digital documentation of controlled substances in some European countries

The report of the group will be published in Fall 2024.