
It’s essential for locums to have an appropriately stocked doctors bag. This enables you to work safely, and with confidence that you are not reliant on whether or not equipment or drugs are available at the surgery.
The bag should be lockable. Most medicines should be stored between 4 and 25C, so bear that in mind when storing your bag- probably better to be stored in your home or at the surgery rather than in a car of varying temperature.
If you do need to store it in your car, lock the bag out of sight in your boot.
Check your drug expiry dates every few months.
The bookmarks section on LO can be used to store any web based tools you might use. It’s mobile friendly.
Any equipment that requires recalibrating will need this done annually. Most practices won’t mind you adding a couple of extra bits of equipment to their list to be done alongside theirs- it’s really worth asking.
When deciding what to carry in your bag, it’s worth considering what you feel confident using, the waiting time for a paramedic in the area and how far away the local hospital is.
The Drugs and Therapeutics Bulletin have excellent papers on drugs for the doctor’s bag (2015) grouped by clinical scenario for both adults and children. Also, Patient.co.uk has a good section on drugs to carry as a GP.
It’s a good idea to send written confirmation of all doses of drugs given by you with the patient if admitting them to hospital.
A CD register of the stock held in your bag should be kept, ideally separately to your bag (in case of theft). This should be updated within 24 hrs of use of a CD.
Restocking of the bag with CDs should be witnessed, as should the appropriate entries into the CD register.
You can write out a private prescription for restocking your bag. The prescription should have details of:
CQC “Emergency drugs for GP practices”
Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin: Drugs for the doctors bag
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