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Controlled drugs

Schedule numbers, batch tracking and expiry warnings — how a controlled drug moves from delivery to patient, and how the register assembles itself from what you recorded along the way.

The controlled-drug register is built from what you record as you work, on four screens:

Where	What it records
The catalogue item	The drug's schedule — what makes it a controlled drug in FastVet.
Booking the delivery in	The lot number and expiry date of the batch that arrived.
Dispensing it	Which batch the dose came from, and who gave it.
The register	All of the above, month by month, ready to export.

Note

If the schedule and batch are not recorded on the first two screens, the register has nothing to show for that drug.

Give the drug its schedule#

Who can do this

Administrators only.

Home›Stock & Prices›Update Prices

The Schedule field on a catalogue item. Anything from 5 up goes on the register.

Open the item and choose its Schedule. Once you choose 5 or above, the screen confirms that dispensing this item will be recorded on the schedule drug register.

The Schedule field appears only on Treatment items, so set controlled drugs up with the Treatment type.

Note

Items at schedule 4 or below, or left at 0, do not appear on the register. If a drug is missing from the register, check its schedule first. Changing it affects future movements only.

Tip

Set the schedule on every controlled drug you hold before you start relying on the register.

Book the delivery in by batch#

Who can do this

Administrators only.

Home›Stock & Prices›Manage Stock›the item

Booking a delivery in, with its lot number.

Receiving stock is covered under Stock & inventory. For a controlled drug, always enter the Lot Number and Lot Expiry Date: FastVet then counts that batch separately, and the Stock Summary at the top of the screen shows how much of each batch you hold, with expired batches flagged.

Note

Both fields are optional. Stock booked in without them is still counted, but shows as Other (no lot assigned), cannot be traced to a batch, and never appears on the Expiring stock report.

Tip

Copy the lot number exactly as it appears on the box or the supplier's invoice.

Choose the batch when it is given#

Who can do this

Whoever is recording the item — vet, nurse or groomer.

The batches on hand, listed under the quantity.

When a drug held in named batches is added to a visit, a Please select lot table appears under the quantity. Choose the batch you took the dose from, and it is recorded against the stock movement.

The table appears wherever a drug is given:

Consultations
Hospital days and boarding days
Grooming
Items inside a protocol
Counter sales

Note

Only batches with stock left are listed. An item booked in without lot numbers shows no table.

Expiry is flagged, never blocked#

An expired batch: struck through in the list, and named in red once chosen.

An expired batch is struck through in the table, and choosing it shows a red note with the date it expired. A batch expiring within 30 days shows an amber note instead. Neither stops you saving the line.

The same flags appear on the Stock Summary table on the stock screens.

Tip

Run Expiring stock to see every batch expiring within 90 days. Anything already past its date is listed in its own section.

The register#

Who can do this

Anyone who can open Reports.

Home›Reports›Schedule drugs

One row per movement, for every item at schedule 5 or above:

Column	What it tells you
Description, Schedule	The drug, and its schedule.
Amount, Unit	How much moved. Negative is dispensed; positive is stock received.
Lot, Lot expiry	The batch, where one was recorded.
Date	When it moved.
Authorized by	The vet responsible for the supply. On a repeat this is the prescriber; otherwise it is the person who recorded the movement.
Dispensed by	Who handed it over.
Client name, Patient name	Who it went to. Deliveries and adjustments have no client and read Stock Bought / Updated .

The register opens on this month; choose another period at the top. Export to Excel saves it, so you can keep each month alongside any paper register you are required to hold.

Note

Only stocked items appear. A controlled drug with a price but no stock record has no stock movements to report — give it a stock record (see Stock & inventory).

Wastage, breakage and expired stock#

Who can do this

Administrators only.

For a discarded part-used vial, a broken box or an expired batch: open the item under Manage Stock, press Update, enter the amount, say why in the Transaction Description, enter the Lot Number and Lot Expiry Date of the batch exactly as it was booked in, and press Subtract.

The adjustment appears in the item's stock history with your reason, and on the register.

Note

Always give a reason. The description is the only explanation the history and the register carry.

What FastVet does not do#

There is no witness or second-signature field. If your procedures require a second person to countersign, keep that on paper.
Destruction is not a separate kind of entry. It is a stock adjustment with a reason.
The register lists movements, not a balance. The running balance for a drug is on its stock history.
Dispensing is not blocked by an expired batch, and there is no stock check or two-person count. The exception is a stopped prescription, which cannot be dispensed — see Dispense a repeat.

Note

Where your regulations require a countersigned running register, use FastVet's monthly export to reconcile against it.

Getting it right#

Set up each controlled drug as a Treatment with a schedule of 5 or above.
Make sure each one has a stock record.
Book every delivery in with its lot number and expiry date.
Choose the batch when you dispense.
Write off breakages and expired stock with a reason.
Run Schedule drugs each month, export it, and file it.

Tip

Try it once on a single drug: set the schedule, book in a batch, dispense a dose, then run the register for this month. The dose should be there with its batch and your name.