Storage of Pharmacy-only Medicines

Regulation of Retail Pharmacy Businesses (Amendment) Regulations 2016

The legislation has been amended to insert regulation 5(1)(ea) which states that pharmacy-only medicines ‘are stored in a part of the premises to which the public does not have access.’

Pharmacists should review the storage of all non-prescription medicines in the pharmacy and in the context of the layout of the pharmacy, to ensure that pharmacy-only medicines are being stored in compliance with this legislation. Pharmacy-only medicines should not be stored in the open area of the pharmacy. Please note that this does not mean that all pharmacy-only medicines need to be stored in the dispensary.

We will shortly update the PSI Guidelines on the Storage of Medicinal Products within a Retail Pharmacy Business to reflect the amending legislation.

Read the amending legislation: Regulation of Retail Pharmacy Businesses (Amendment) Regulations 2016

Information about this amendment was originally communicated to pharmacists in the PSI newsletter in March 2014.

(This update was notified in Issue 2 of the PSI Newsletter in April 2016)