The Association Of Police Controlled Drugs Liaison Officers
The Association of Police Controlled Drugs Liaison Officers 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 Association 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 succesful attracting around 250 delegates from a wide range of regulatory and healthcare providers.
The Association is divided into five 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.
New Powers Under The 2006 Legislation
In line with the general approach to regulation in the UK, routine inspection of healthcare providers will now be risk-based. However, the police will be involved in supporting interventions in a wider range of organisations. Furthermore, new powers of entry and inspection permit the police and PCTs’ authorised officers to enter and inspect any premises that are in possession/control of controlled drugs in any setting. Failure to cooperate or obstruction of these inspections is a criminal offence that is punishable by fines and prison sentences. There are no restrictions on the number of targeted or proactive visits that are made.
This site is aimed at providing information for all the agencies involved as well as providing contact information for individuals within the various groups.
The formation of Local Intelligence Networks by PCT Accountable Officers is taking place across the UK but as we are all working independently of each other we are all at differing stages of development within the process.
Within the next few weeks it would be helpful if you could tell us how you are progressing and the problems that are occurring within your network. Why re-invent the wheel? I am sure that we are all having problems with information sharing, protocols for data exchange, deciding who should be invited to meetings and what is the difference between ‘concern’, ‘well founded concern’ and ‘serious concern’.
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