ACT Medicines, Poisons and Therapeutic Goods Act 2008 s58: Community pharmacy handover: the departing responsible pharmacist takes and records a controlled medicines inventory, the incoming one checks and signs it, and discrepancies are resolved and reported to the chief health officer at once and in writing within 24 hours

What does s58 require?

Before stopping management of a community pharmacy for more than 14 days, the responsible pharmacist must take a written inventory of each form and strength of controlled medicine on the premises, enter the quantities in the controlled medicines register and sign and date each entry; the incoming pharmacist must, before taking responsibility for more than 14 days, check those entries, indicate in writing whether each is correct and sign and date them (100 penalty units, 1 year or both). Where an inventory shows a quantity different from the register, the responsible pharmacist must take reasonable steps to resolve it (100 penalty units, 1 year or both) and tell the chief health officer orally immediately after checking and in writing within 24 hours (50 penalty units, 6 months or both).