Legislation, Codes of Practice and Policies for Medication Handling in Health and Social Care

This article discusses the legislation, codes of practice and policies that apply to the handling of medication in health and social care. It also highlights the importance of good practices in medication administration for users of health and care services. The article covers the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989, Therapeutic Goods Regulations 1990 and 2002, medication handling policies, standard code of practice for medication safety, and guiding principles for medication management in residential aged care facilities.

Running head: Health and Social Care
Health and Social care Unit 9
Task 4
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1Health and Social Care
Therapeutic Goods Act 1989
This act aims to support the setup and
continuation of a national system related to
the safety, efficacy, quality and availability
of therapeutic goods that are used in or
exported from the country.
It also aims to create a standardized
approach to control the accessibility,
availability and safe handling of poisonous
substances.
Therapeutic Goods
Regulations 1990
This act aims to establish and maintain a
national system of controls about the
quality, safety, timely availability of
therapeutic goods used in or exported
from Australia.
It ensures the efficacy of therapeutic
goods, ensuring its performance as per the
intentions of the manufacturer.
Therapeutic Goods (Medical
Devices) Regulations 2002
This act is set out to classify medical
devices based on its applications.
It provides a system for classifying the
medical devices or instruments
Legislation, Codes of Practice and policies that applies to the handling of medication
Standard code of practice:
Medication Safety
Outlines the best practices for prescribing,
distributing, dispensing and administering
medicine.
Understanding how to access appropriate
medication, requirements for
communication of medicine information,
describing the process of patient
engagement, understanding adverse drug
reactions and documentation requirements
for medications.
Medication Handling Policies
Section 1 of the policy outlines the governance of medicine and outlines the roles
and responsibilities of governing bodies on medicine use.
Section 2 of the policy outlines the requirements that needs to be followed while
prescribing medications
Section 3: Outlines the roles and responsibilities of Pharmacy Services to support
safe procurement, storage, prescribing, dispensing and supply of medication
Section 4 outlines the medication storage, management of specific medication and
recording requirements in patient care areas
Section 5 outlines who would administer the medications and under what
circumstances they would do so.
Guiding principles for medication
management in residential aged care
facilities
The policy aims to meet medication related
service needs to achieve best health outcomes
and economic objectives.

2Health and Social Care
Medication Handling Policies Standard code of practice:
Medication Safety
Guiding principles for medication
management in residential aged
care facilities
Outlining the roles and responsibilities of
the governing bodies on the use of
medications help to delineate the actions
that should be taken by these bodies on
effective handling, storage, dispensing,
prescription and procurement of
medication, thereby preserving the efficacy
of the medication and the best health
outcomes from the use of the medication. It
also increases the accuracy of medication
history on admission, reduces prescription
errors and medication administration errors
and reduces the risks of medication related
incidents. Overall, the policy ensures safety
in medication use.
This helps to understand the best
practice to access medication that is
appropriate for the client, developing
communication regarding the medical
information. Outlines the process to
engage patients and also outlines the
possible adverse drug reactions.
This policy is important to ensure that
the clients are aware of the effects of a
prescribed medication and helps the
medical professionals on how to
communicate important information
regarding the medications.
This is useful for clients of aged care
services, ensuring safety of medications
and pharmacological interventions.
This also helps to ensure that the
medications prescribed in an aged care
setup are able to meet the health
objectives that are indented from the
medication.
Importance of good practices in the administration of medication for the users of health and care services
Therapeutic Goods Act 1989
Therapeutic Goods Regulations 1990 and 2002
The regulations and orders outlined in this act
sets out the need for including therapeutic
goods in the Australian Register of Therapeutic
Goods and ensure correct labeling, advertising
and appearance of medical products.
This ensures that therapeutic goods passes the
national standards in the accuracy in the
product information and prevent medication
errors
This act ensures the setup and maintenance of national standards in the safety and
quality of medications.
This is a vital act, since it ensures that the prescribed medications are safe for the
clients and also ensures the accessibility of the medication by the target populations.
References:
legislation.gov.au., 2018. Federal Reggistrar of Legislations,. Retrieved on: July 8 2018, from: https://www.legislation.gov.au/