[Revised Aug 02]
There can be a need to delete a stock item because it has been discontinued, or to merge drug cards if they have been duplicated.
If an unwanted drug card has not been used during the last three years, it can be physically deleted. Otherwise, a 'Pseudo delete' will produce a similar effect while retaining links for the items sold.
Merging There is currently no 'merge drug card' facility due the the requirement for a full record to be kept of the actions of the dispenser. However this is being considered for a future version.
To 'Physically delete' stock card
Bring up the item within Stock Cards then Select 'Edit' and 'Delete' or <ctrl> + <d> directly.
If the Computer
Unable to Delete Stock/Drug Item
A message will be displayed if the item cannot be deleted because there is sales history or scripts referring to it.
- Go into the stock card for the item and select 'Edit' and 'Move Item into Red on Lookup' within the Stock Cards.
Then try deleting again.
If still not accepted, then it is not safe to delete since there are scripts within the legal recording period that refer to it, so 'Pseudo delete' instead.
To 'Pseudo delete' an item.
1. Bring up the item then change the name, e.g. from 'Widgets blue' to 'Xwidgets blue'. This means that the item will no longer come up if 'Widgets' are looked up, but the item will still be recognisable if it comes up on a historical record.
Normally drug names are left alone by the monthly update, but if a drug is discontinued the drug name will be changed from 'Xwidget blue' to 'Widget Blue (Disc Oct98)'. By this time the drug will be in the red section which should be enough to prevent its use.
2. Stop the item coming up on orders and stocktake sheets by ticking the 'No reorder;' box.
The unused item will be deleted physically once there has been on activity on it for more than three years.
To force a deletion of a stock card.
If an item cannot be physically deleted and the 'Pseudo delete' is not acceptable, it is possible to redirect all script records and repeat links to another stock card then delete the redundant one.
1. Pull up the redundant drug card and change the name in a way that will make it recognisably different from drug card to be retained. E.g. Change the name from 'Valium' to 'XValium'.
2. Make up a 'Patients using this drug' report for this dispensary item. Print this out, then work through the scripts editing them to point to the new drug card and add a comment explaining what the reason is for this.
3. Once you have removed the unwanted drug from all scripts in the report you can then Delete the Item from within the stockcards as above.
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