Pharmacists and pharmacy technicians are now able to self-register to Health Canada’s E-Services Portal. Registration is available to individual pharmacist and pharmacy technician users, not to pharmacy teams as a whole. The portal provides an easy and streamlined way to report any loss or theft of controlled substances, precursors, or any products containing them.
Any regulated member can register for the portal and draft a report, but only pharmacists can submit a report. The pharmacist has final authority and must declare that all of the information is correct before submitting the report.
The portal allows pharmacists to
- submit, access, view, and amend their reports of loss or theft;
- submit and manage reports for multiple sites;
- use searchable databases of controlled substances, precursors, and products containing them;
- receive automatic confirmation when submitting a report; and
- download their reports.
Pharmacists must report loss or theft of controlled substances or precursors to Health Canada. Pharmacists should refer to Health Canada’s guidance on reporting loss or theft of controlled substances and precursors for detailed information on which incidents should be reported.
Licensees should note that a record of the loss or theft report must be available for easy retrieval at the pharmacy for two years from the date of the report. It is recommended that licensees retain a paper or electronic copy of the report at the pharmacy for pharmacy team access, and not rely solely on the portal for record retrieval.
