Rules your business follows
Selling medicines
What Kila does at every till for a business under the Pharmacy rules, the settings it needs, and the registers it keeps for an inspector.
Medicines are not ordinary goods. Some are sold only on a prescription, some only by or under a pharmacist, and controlled drugs are entered in a register. Kila keeps these rules at every till, and on its server, for every medicine according to its drug schedule. Everything else in the shop sells as normal.
Pharmacies start with these rules, and so do pharmaceutical distributors. Kila calls them the Pharmacy rules.
The law says, Kila does
Link to this section: The law says, Kila does| The law says | Kila does |
|---|---|
| Medicines are classed as prescription-only, pharmacy-only or general sale, and controlled drugs are listed apart. Pharmacy and Poisons Act (Cap. 244), with the classes set by the Pharmacy and Poisons Board; Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Control) Act, 1994. | Each medicine carries its schedule: OTC (general sale), P, POM or CD. The till shows P, POM and CD on the product tiles. A general sale medicine sells straight through. |
| A prescription-only medicine is supplied only on a prescription from a registered prescriber. Pharmacy and Poisons Act (Cap. 244). | For POM and CD, the payment asks for the prescription: the prescriber, their registration number, the patient and the date. No payment is taken until it is recorded, and it is kept with the sale and on the receipt. |
| Pharmacy and prescription medicines are supplied by or under the supervision of a pharmacist. Pharmacy and Poisons Act (Cap. 244). | A pharmacist approves P, POM and CD medicines: at the till with their own sign-in, from Approvals, or by ringing the sale themselves. Only the roles the owner chooses approve, Pharmacist and Pharmaceutical technologist always, and only with their PPB registration number recorded. |
| A pharmacy trades under the personal control of a pharmacist. Pharmacy and Poisons Act (Cap. 244). | One pharmacist is on duty at each branch at a time. With nobody on duty, the till refuses medicines that need a pharmacist, unless a pharmacist approves them at the till: Kila then signs that pharmacist on. |
| The premises are licensed by the Pharmacy and Poisons Board every year, with a registered superintendent. Pharmacy and Poisons Act (Cap. 244). | Settings keep the premises licence and the superintendent’s registration with their expiry dates, and Kila reminds the owners before they expire. Once the premises licence has expired, the till refuses P, POM and CD medicines. |
| Every receipt and supply of a controlled drug is entered in a register, with the balance. Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Control) Act, 1994. | Each controlled drug sold is entered in the controlled drugs register with the patient, the prescriber, the pharmacist and the balance left at the branch. Deliveries and count corrections are in the register too. |
| Expired medicines are kept off sale. Pharmacy and Poisons Board. | The till sells only in-date batches, and a batch blocked for a recall is refused at every till. |
| Patients’ health information is sensitive personal data. Data Protection Act, 2019. | Patients’ medication records (allergies, conditions, chronic medicines) are open only to the roles that keep them, such as pharmacists and dispensing assistants. A claims clerk sees the prescriptions, for the payers, but not the records. |
The law says
Kila checks what it can check: the schedule, the prescription’s details, the pharmacist and the licence dates. It cannot check that a prescription is genuine, that the prescriber is registered, or that the patient is who they say they are. The pharmacist still does that, as the Pharmacy and Poisons Act asks.
Set it up
Link to this section: Set it upThe owner records the licence once, under Pharmacy › Pharmacy settings: “The premises licence, the superintendent pharmacist, and who approves medicines that need a pharmacist. Kila reminds the owners before a licence expires.”
- Enter the Premises licence number (“From the Pharmacy and Poisons Board.”) and when the Licence expires.
- Enter the Superintendent pharmacist, Their registration number and when Their practice licence expires.
- Under Who approves medicines that need a pharmacist, tick the roles that approve. Pharmacist and Pharmaceutical technologist always do: they say “Holds the pharmacist permission”.
- Leave Approvals need the pharmacist’s PPB registration number on: “Only people with their PPB registration number recorded on them (Users, their profile) approve, owners included. Only an owner changes this.”
- Tap Save changes.
At the till
Link to this section: At the tillWhat the payment asks for depends on the medicine’s schedule:
- OTC, general sale: nothing more. It sells like any product.
- P, pharmacy only: “Pharmacy medicines:” and the medicine. A pharmacist approves it before payment: Sell a medicine that needs a pharmacist.
- POM and CD: “Dispense on prescription:” and the medicine. The prescription is recorded and a pharmacist approves: Dispense a prescription.
- A trade customer, such as a clinic: no prescription or approval: Sell to a clinic or another pharmacy.
After the premises licence expires
Link to this section: After the premises licence expiresThe Pharmacy counter warns that “The premises licence expired on” the date, and “Prescription and pharmacy medicines are not sold until it is renewed in Settings, Pharmacy.” At the till, even with a pharmacist’s approval:
Record the renewed licence’s number and expiry under Pharmacy settings.
Stock past its date
Link to this section: Stock past its dateThe till sells from the batches still in date. When the cart holds more than that, it says how much it can sell:
Send the expired stock back or write it off: Return expired and short-dated stock.
Registers and reports an inspector may ask for
Link to this section: Registers and reports an inspector may ask forThe registers are under Pharmacy in Kila’s menu, for the owner and anyone whose role includes View reports. The Pharmacist and Pharmaceutical technologist roles do not: they have Controlled drugs and counts, with each drug’s balance.
- Controlled drugs registerPharmacy rules
- Every movement of a controlled drug, with who it was dispensed to, on whose prescription, and the balance left.
- Prescriptions dispensedPharmacy rules
- Each prescription filled: patient, prescriber and registration number, what was dispensed and the pharmacist who approved.
- Sales by drug schedulePharmacy rules
- Medicines sold by schedule (general sale, pharmacy only, prescription only, controlled), net of returns.
- Controlled drugs register: “Drugs in the schedules CD and every product marked controlled. The balance is what the branch held after each entry.” Each entry is Dispensed, Received or an Adjustment, with the patient or customer, the prescriber, the pharmacist and who recorded it.
- Pharmacy › Controlled drugs and counts: the counts against the register, with the witness for each difference: Count controlled drugs.
- Pharmacy › On duty, refills and owings: Cover in the last 7 days, the pharmacist on duty at each branch and for how long.
Common questions
Link to this section: Common questionsCan the owner approve medicines? Only as a pharmacist. At Dawa Bora Chemists, Dr. Wanjiku Mbugua is the superintendent, with her PPB registration number recorded, and Owner is ticked among the roles that approve. An owner without a registration number recorded does not approve while the PPB number is required.
A pharmacist approved from home, and the till still refused. Why? An approval from away counts only from the pharmacist on duty at that branch: Approve medicines for the till.
Do Kila’s clinical alerts replace the pharmacist? No. They come from a starter list for the pharmacist to review, not a full drug database: Dispense a prescription.
- Pharmacy: how Kila works for a pharmacy.
- Pharmacist: the pharmacist’s day.
- Selling alcohol: the other rules a shop may follow.