Controlled drugs – what are they?
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Safety and trust
What is meant by controlled drugs?
Controlled drugs (CDs) are defined in the The Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 as drugs which are ‘dangerous or otherwise harmful’ and have abuse potential or could be misused.
While many controlled drugs have a legitimate use in the treatment and management of medical conditions, they can cause harm in the wrong hands or if taken incorrectly. To protect people, safeguards have been put in place to control who can get hold of these drugs. However, the Misuse of Drugs Legislation should never prevent a person in need of a controlled drug from accessing it as part of their treatment.
Controlled drugs are most commonly prescribed by doctors, however certain controlled drugs can be prescribed by other health professionals such as pharmacists and independent prescribers – depending on the circumstance and type of drug.
What are some common controlled drugs?
Controlled drugs are categorised into ‘schedules’. There are five schedules. Schedule 1 drugs are those considered to have no therapeutic value – i.e illegal drugs that cannot be lawfully possessed or prescribed.
If you or a loved one is being prescribed a controlled drug it will fall into one of the below schedules. If you have prescriptions for schedule 2, 3 or 4 drugs the pharmacist may ask you to show proof of your identity when collecting your medication.
Schedule 2 and 3
The drugs in these schedules can be legally possessed, prescribed, and supplied by healthcare professionals. They can legally be possessed by anyone with a prescription, but it is an offence to possess them without a prescription.
Examples of Schedule 2 controlled drugs –
- Prescribed opioids (strong medicines often used to relieve pain in adults)
- Morphine
- Diamorphine
- Fentanyl
- Alfentanil
- Oxycodone
- Tapentadol
- Stimulants (often used to treat ADHD and narcolepsy)
- Methylphenidate
- Dexamphetamine
- Lisdexamfetamine
- Ketamine (an anaesthetic medication sometimes used for pain)
Examples of Schedule 3 controlled drugs –
- Tramadol (an opiate)
- Midazolam (a benzodiazepines used to treat a number of different conditions, including seizures)
- Anticonvulsants (commonly used to treat epilepsy)
- Pregabalin
- Gabapentin (may also be used to treat some types of persistent pain, including neuropathic pain)
- Barbiturates
Examples of Schedule 4 controlled drugs
Schedule 4 was divided into two parts in 2001.
Schedule 4 (i) includes most benzodiazepines. Like Schedule 2 and 3 drugs it’s a legal requirement to have a prescription for schedule 4 (i) drugs in order to be in possession of them.
Drugs in Schedule 4 (ii) drugs can be possessed as long as they are clearly for personal use. The most common type of Schedule 4 (ii) drugs are steroids.
Example of Schedule 5 controlled drugs
Schedule 5 includes lower strength preparations of certain controlled drugs (such as codeine, pholcodine, or morphine). This makes them exempt from virtually all CD requirements, meaning they can be sold over the counter without a prescription, but there will usually be limits to how many you can buy at a time.
Please note – the above list is not exhaustive and is subject to change. We recommend visiting the Government website to stay up-to-date with Controlled Drug classifications.
Can self-employed carers on the Elder platform handle or administer controlled drugs?
The self-employed carers on the Elder platform will not be expected to do any tasks that are nurse-led, require specialist training, or which they feel uncomfortable doing due to the potential for risk. This includes administering controlled drugs.
A carer can work in a home where there are controlled drugs present provided they are not the ones to administer it.
In some instances a carer may be able to handle controlled drugs, for example passing them to the person they’re caring for. However this is only possible if the person receiving care is able to self-direct – i.e tell the carer when they need their medication, and can take their daily dose of the medication themselves unaided, whether this be by oral administration or otherwise.
For more information on what self-employed carers on our platform can and can’t do, click here.
Self-employed carers and non-controlled medication
It’s Elder’s position that self-employed carers who use our platform can only prompt the people they’re caring for to take their medication, as we don’t assess the self-employed carer’s skill base/qualifications for administering medication.
At Elder, we can only suggest to self-employed carers that they obtain the necessary training and skills to enable them to provide medication support to our clients.
As an introductory marketplace, we have no ability to insist or mandate that this training is undertaken by self-employed carers and the customer and care recipient, if they wish to proceed with the self-employed carer’s services, do so on the understanding that Elder has no oversight, control or management of this aspect of care.
Any ongoing requirement to provide medication support is therefore a matter to be discussed and agreed between the customer, self-employed carer and the person they’re caring for.
Safe destruction and disposal of controlled drugs
Because of their potential for abuse it’s really important to ensure controlled drugs that are no longer needed or which have expired are disposed of properly.
It’s advised by the NHS that you return any unwanted medications to the pharmacy that dispensed them. If this isn’t possible, return them to a nearby pharmacy – never throw them in the bin. Pharmacies will have a suitable container and stringent processes to carry out the destruction of CDs safely.