Together ensuring the safer management and use of controlled drugs in the community
Copyright ©2009 (Association of Police Controlled Drugs Liaison Officers) All rights reserved.
The Association of Police Controlled Drugs Liaison Officers (APCDLO) was formed in 2000 by a small group of officers to improve working relationships with the rest of the police service and their partner agencies to promote best practice at both national and regional level. To help support this aim, the Association set up links with the Association of Chief Police Officers Drugs Committee. The value of these links was acknowledged during the Shipman Inquiry and the Association was involved in a subsequent consultation about taking forward the Inquiry’s recommendations.
From humble beginnings and annual conferences with 30 interested parties the APCDLO has now gained support from the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) and has grown into a professional body whose conference in 2006 attracted over 250 delegates from across the whole range of industry partners. The conference in 2007 at Cardiff was just as successful attracting around 250 delegates from a wide range of regulatory and healthcare providers.
The APCDLO is divided into six regions throughout England. Each has a representative who organises regular meetings with other regions to meet and share information and good practice.
Until late 2006, the association’s remit has been to inspect retail pharmacy outlets and some hospital pharmacies to ensure that they were complying with the misuse of drugs and safe custody regulations in respect of controlled drugs.
However, with the introduction of the Health Act 2006, which came into force on January 1 2007, there is a greater emphasis on the police being involved in investigation, intelligence and partnership working, particularly through local intelligence networks.
Each of the new local partnerships is led by an accountable officer, who must be a Primary Care Trust (PCT) employee working at a senior (board) level. He/she will be responsible for establishing local intelligence networks and adverse incident panels for their PCT area. These will involve regulatory and inspection partners and the police. The intelligence networks will meet when required. The incident panels may have to meet at very short notice depending on the seriousness of issues that arise.
All the agencies will contribute to the collection of intelligence and information, therefore many joint inspections are anticipated.
Controlled Drug Liaison Officer (CDLO) Objectives
CDLOs Remit
To oversee the implementation of the Health Act 2006 on a National basis
To initiate investigations and disseminate to boroughs offences of theft, forgery, criminal deception and false accounting by health workers.
To undertake ‘Targeted Inspections, Nationally at Pharmacies and other Health Care premises and collate & disseminate intelligence.
Prevent the diversion of controlled drugs into the illicit drugs market through targeted inspections and destructions.
Develop our links with partner agencies concerning the sharing of information and developing processes to enable the CDLOs to tackle drugs more effectively.
To engage in multi-agency liaison as directed by the Health Act 2006.
To liaise with law enforcement and other agencies to identify wanted/missing persons from intelligence and information gained during CDLO work.
To liaise with the PCTs and identify areas of criminality within the Health Care arena where there is the prescribing of Controlled Drugs.
The CDLOs remit is the policing of controlled drugs within the Health Service. This involves intelligence, prevention and enforcement activities in partnership with health professionals from other organisations.
The CDLOs remit only includes offences that involve pharmaceutical controlled drugs and their safer management. Therefore does not include offences such as bogus doctors, the sales of non-controlled drugs and theft of miscellaneous items from health service providers premises and fraud.
CDLOs regularly act in partnership with health professionals and therefore in a position to assist in a liaison role with police investigators in enquiries outside their remit.
Legislation
The CDLOs work within the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, the Health Act 2006 and the supporting regulations. The Controlled Drugs (Supervision of Management and Use) Regulations 2006. The Misuse of Drugs (Safe Custody) Regulations 1973. Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001. and The Medicines Act 1968. The misappropriation of controlled drugs investigated under the Theft Act 1968, the Fraud Act 2006 and the Serious Crime Act 2007.