Controlled Drug Register

Controlled drug management, built for pre-hospital care

A controlled drug register that moves with your operation, across stores, stations, vehicles, bags and pouches.

Salvify brings controlled drug stock, custody, transactions, witnessing, stock checks, discrepancies and audit into the same medicines management platform your teams already use.

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  • Append-only ledger
  • Independent witnessing
  • Full chain of custody
  • Inspection-ready exports

CDR-014

Morphine sulfate 10mg/ml

Schedule 2 · Ambulance 3

Balance

3

  • ReceiptBatch 22B441 · Central store+10
  • Transfer outAmbulance 3 · witnessed−4
  • AdministrationPRF 48213 · acting + witness−2
  • WasteDamaged ampoule · reason logged−1
  • Stock checkBalance confirmed=

Append-only. Corrections are added as linked addenda, so the original entry always stays visible.

Salvify’s Controlled Drug Register is built on the same medicines, stock, holding, user and traceability architecture already used across live pre-hospital operations.

Why this matters

Paper registers weren't built for mobile care

Controlled drugs move constantly in pre-hospital care, between stores, stations, vehicles, bags and clinicians, before they are administered or returned. A paper logbook works in a fixed pharmacy. It works badly when the cupboard is a moving vehicle or a bag that gets swapped between crews.

Records that don't hold up

Incomplete or inconsistent entries, and a chain of custody that is hard to prove after the fact.

Balances kept by hand

Running totals maintained manually, with reconciliation done retrospectively rather than as you go.

No view across locations

Limited visibility of controlled drug stock across stores, stations, vehicles and bags.

Slow when it matters

Discrepancies take time to investigate, and tracing a movement means digging through paper.

Duplicated effort

The same information written down more than once, with witness and sign-off adding friction.

Waste that goes unseen

Expired or damaged stock discovered late, on a shift or during an inspection.

The CD journey

Manage the complete controlled drug journey

Each approved location holds its own register for each drug it holds. A station store's morphine register is separate from an ambulance's, which is separate from a response bag's. Every receipt, move, administration, waste and destruction posts to the right register, and the running total updates itself.

  • Central store: Receipt logged with supplier, batch and expiry. The register balance goes up.
  • Station: An approved controlled-drug location with its own register and running balance.
  • Vehicle: Moving stock uses the same screen as everyday supplies, and transfers are logged in and out.
  • Bag / pouch: Personal and pouch custody sign-out records who is accountable, and until when.
  • Clinician: Administration is recorded at the point of care and independently witnessed.
Step 1 of 5

Central store

Receipt logged with supplier, batch and expiry. The register balance goes up.

The register

A controlled drug register that moves with your operation

Each register is a real, countable thing with its own running balance. Nothing is erased or edited. If someone makes a mistake, they add a correction, and both the mistake and the correction stay visible, exactly like crossing something out in a paper book rather than using an eraser.

CDR-014

Morphine sulfate 10mg/ml

Schedule 2 · Ambulance 3

Balance

3

  • ReceiptBatch 22B441 · Central store+10
  • Transfer outAmbulance 3 · witnessed−4
  • AdministrationPRF 48213 · acting + witness−2
  • WasteDamaged ampoule · reason logged−1
  • Stock checkBalance confirmed=

Append-only. Corrections are added as linked addenda, so the original entry always stays visible.

  • Register-based CD management with automatic running balances
  • An append-only ledger, so submitted entries are not overwritten
  • Corrections handled through linked amendments and addenda, with the original always visible
  • Every entry attributed to an individual user, with date and time
  • Register-level controls and a full activity history
  • Each register is scoped to a single location, so responsibility for stock is never ambiguous

Every CD transaction, categorised

Stock reductions are categorised by reason, whether administration, damage, expiry, transfer, waste or destruction, so every movement is traceable and reportable, not just recorded.

  • Receipt
  • Issue
  • Transfer in
  • Transfer out
  • Administration
  • Waste
  • Destruction
  • Stock check
  • Discrepancy adjustment
  • Correction / addendum
Chain of custody

Know where every controlled drug is

Salvify maintains traceability as controlled drugs move between operational holdings: central store to station, station to vehicle, vehicle to bag, bag to clinician, and back again.

Chain of custody

Morphine sulfate 10mg/ml
  1. Central storeCDR-014Receipt logged with supplier, batch and expiry. Balance updated.
  2. Station AApproved locationThe system checks the destination is an approved location before the transfer is allowed.
  3. Ambulance 3Batch 22B441 · Exp 06/27Batch, expiry and quantity travel with the stock, not just the location.
  4. Response bagSigned out · 12hPersonal custody sign-out records who is accountable for the bag, and until when.
  • Source and destination recorded for every movement, with the user who performed it
  • Batch, expiry and quantity retained as stock moves
  • Movement and custody history retained against the stock itself
  • Moving a controlled drug uses the same screen as everyday supplies, but the system checks the destination is an approved location and blocks the move if it is not

Salvify retains stock lineage as medicines are moved, split, transferred or removed, supporting a clear chain of custody.

Sealed pouch and seal workflows

Salvify’s holding and CDR architecture supports configurable sealed-pouch and seal-tracking workflows for organisations that distribute controlled drugs in grouped custody units: uniquely identified pouches, seal identifiers, sealed transfer between locations, opening at the destination, and receipting individual medicines into the destination register.

Personal and pouch custody sign-out records who is personally accountable for a pouch of controlled drugs, and until when.

Witnessing

Independent witnessing, without unnecessary complexity

Controlled drug events can be independently witnessed. A second eligible person signs in with their own account and confirms what they saw, the same two-person principle a paper register requires.

Add a witnessRecord together

A witness is added and accepts on their own account, in the moment or later.

Acting userRecords the event
Morphine sulfate 10mg/mlSigned
WitnessSeparate permission · own account
+ Add a witness
Recorded together
  • Independent second-person witnessing across controlled drug events
  • Witness permission is separate from permission to administer, so a witness does not need to be authorised to give the drug
  • Every user has an individual, authenticated account; shared logins are not used
  • The acting user and the witness are both recorded, with date and time
  • Witnessed activity is retained in the audit record
  • Which events require a witness is configurable, so routine, low-risk activity stays quick to record
Checks and oversight

Stock checks, discrepancies and governance

Physical stock can be checked against the recorded balance at any time. When they don't match, Salvify won't let anyone quietly adjust the number. It opens a formal investigation that has to be written up and resolved.

Discrepancy lifecycle

  1. 1Open
  2. 2Under investigation
  3. 3Resolved

Investigation notes are append-only. A resolution is either explained or adjusted, and it stays on the record either way.

  • Mismatches create a discrepancy record that has to be investigated and resolved before it can be closed
  • Balances cannot be quietly adjusted to make the numbers match
  • Investigation status is tracked, and resolution stays auditable
  • Governance teams can see unresolved discrepancies across every location
  • Expired and expiring controlled drug stock is surfaced on a dashboard, not discovered by chance

Configurable reminders and exception alerts can support scheduled stock checks and discrepancy follow-up as part of Salvify’s roadmap; today, outstanding items are surfaced whenever someone opens the dashboard.

Oversight for every level of responsibility

Frontline users

See relevant CD stock and register activity, complete required transactions, and perform stock checks.

Local managers

View activity, identify discrepancies, and see overdue or exception items for their area.

Medicines governance teams

Organisation-wide oversight, with the ability to drill into any location or register and review activity, discrepancies, expiry and movement history.

Controlled Drug Accountable Officer

Central oversight of discrepancies, expiry, stock position and audit history across every location.

Operational use

Built for frontline use

The people using the register are often mid-shift, in a vehicle or at a scene. The interface is built for fast, simple workflows on whatever device is to hand.

PhoneTabletLaptop / desktop
Roadmap

Offline support for key frontline controlled-drug workflows, covering receipt, administration, waste, stock checks and witnessing, forms part of Salvify’s product roadmap, for organisations operating where connectivity is intermittent.

  • Mobile-first, responsive design for phone, tablet, laptop and desktop
  • Browser-based, and can be added to a supported device home screen, with no app-store dependency for core access
  • The same workflows whether your team is on base, on the road or working remotely
Connected

Integration and medicines data

Salvify has an API-led integration architecture, so controlled drug management connects to the systems your organisation already relies on rather than standing apart from them.

Potential integrations

  • Pharmacy stock systems
  • ePRF systems
  • Identity providers
  • Reporting and data platforms
  • REST APIs for stock lookup and usage recording, so clinical and ePRF systems do not duplicate data entry
  • Structured dm+d / SNOMED CT identifiers on medicines, for catalogue mapping and interoperability
  • Batch and expiry captured at the level of each individual stock instance
  • FHIR and HL7. interoperability can be supported where required through customer integration projects.
Assurance

Built with healthcare assurance in mind

Salvify treats controlled drug data as what it is: a record that has to stand up to inspection.

  • UK-hosted infrastructure
  • Encryption in transit and at rest
  • Role-based access control and individual authentication
  • A complete, attributable audit history of register activity
  • Automated backups and point-in-time recovery
  • Controlled drug access is granted individually, separate from general system permissions
Who it's for

For organisations managing controlled drugs on the move

Salvify supports any organisation managing controlled drugs across multiple mobile or distributed locations. It is not designed around a single fixed pharmacy or hospital store.

NHS ambulance services

Controlled drugs held across regions, stations, vehicles and response bags.

Private ambulance providers

Distributed fleets and contracts that still need a defensible register.

Event and mass-gathering medical

Time-boxed operations that stand up, run and stand down at pace.

Air ambulance and repatriation

Controlled drugs moving with the patient, across bases and borders.

Offshore, maritime and remote-site teams

Medical provision far from a pharmacy, with real accountability demands.

Specialist patient transport

Custody that changes hands as patients move between care settings.

Outcomes

What changes with Salvify

Stronger governance, less paperwork, and a clearer picture of every controlled drug in every location.

  • Stronger CD governance and central oversight
  • Real-time visibility of stock across locations
  • A clearer, provable chain of custody
  • Faster discrepancy investigation
  • Less paperwork and fewer duplicated records
  • Greater confidence in running balances
  • Better visibility of expiry and stock movement
  • Improved audit and inspection readiness
  • Clearer witness records
  • Reduced operational burden on frontline and governance teams

See how Salvify can support controlled drug management across your organisation

Book a walkthrough, or talk to us about controlled drugs for pre-hospital and mobile care.

Book a demoTalk to us about controlled drugs