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Ward Medicine Request Issue and Return Workflow

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Dr M H B Ariyaratne edited this page Jun 14, 2026 · 2 revisions

Ward Medicine Request, Issue, and Return Workflow

Overview

This article describes the complete cycle of medicines moving between an inpatient ward and the pharmacy: the ward requests medicines for a patient, pharmacy issues the medicines (substituting an alternative item where needed), the ward receives the issued medicines into ward stock, and any unused medicines are later returned to the pharmacy through a porter. Finally, the pharmacy confirms receipt of the returned medicines, completing the stock movement back to the pharmacy.

When to Use

Follow this workflow when:

  • A ward needs to request medicines or consumables for an admitted patient (BHT)
  • Pharmacy staff need to issue requested medicines, including substituting an out-of-stock item with an equivalent
  • Ward staff need to bring issued medicines into the ward's own stock
  • A ward has unused or excess medicines that must be sent back to the pharmacy
  • Pharmacy staff need to confirm that medicines sent back from a ward have physically arrived and update stock accordingly

How to Use

Step 1: Ward Requests Medicines from Pharmacy

  1. Open the patient's admission profile
  2. Click Request Medicines from Pharmacy (also available at Inward > Pharmacy > Request Medicines from Pharmacy)
  3. Select the Requesting Department and the BHT
  4. Search for and select each required item, enter the Quantity, and click Add
  5. Repeat for all required items. To remove an item from the request, click Remove
  6. Click Settle to finalize the request
  7. The request is printed and sent to the pharmacy for issuing

For full details, see Request Medicine from Pharmacy.

Alternative: Request directly from the patient's Ward Medications list

If the medicines have already been prescribed as ward medications for the patient, you can request them from pharmacy without re-entering them:

  1. Open the patient's admission profile (Inpatient Dashboard)
  2. Click Ward Medications
  3. In the Active Ward Medications table, tick the checkbox next to each medicine that needs to be requested from pharmacy
  4. Click Request Selected from Pharmacy
  5. You are taken to the pharmacy request page with the selected medicines already added
  6. Choose the requesting pharmacy (a default and recently-used pharmacies are offered as quick options), review the quantities, and click Settle to finalize the request

Note: Only medicines belonging to the current admission can be requested this way. If "Could not add any of the selected medicines to the request" appears, re-select the medicines and try again.

Step 2: Pharmacy Issues the Requested Medicines (with Substitutes)

  1. From the pharmacy menu, go to Inward > Pharmacy > BHT Issue Requests
  2. Select the pending request to issue
  3. Review the Requested Item list. Each line shows the requested item, quantity, and available stock

Substituting an item:

If the requested item is out of stock, expired, or a better-priced/longer-expiry equivalent is available:

  1. Click the 🔄 (Select a Substitute) button next to the requested item
  2. The Select a Substitute Stock dialog opens, showing available alternatives with Item Name, Batch No, Expiry Date, Available Qty, Purchase Rate, and Retail Rate
  3. Review the options and click Replace next to the desired substitute
  4. The dialog closes and the line item updates to show the new item, batch, and pricing
  5. Rows that have been substituted are highlighted and show "Auto-sub: <requested item> → <substituted item>" under the item description

Note: Substitutions are restricted to items with the same unit/pack (for example, Amp → Amp). Pack-to-pack substitutions (for example, Amp → Ampp) are not supported.

  1. Once all items are confirmed (substituted where needed), settle the issue bill
  2. The issue is printed for the ward

For complete substitution guidance and troubleshooting, see Ward Pharmacy BHT Substitute Functionality.

Step 3: Ward Receives the Issued Medicines

  1. Open the patient's admission profile
  2. Click Receive Medicines from Pharmacy
  3. Select the pending issue from the pharmacy
  4. Confirm receipt - the items are added to the ward's stock

Step 4: Ward Returns Unused Medicines to Pharmacy via Porter

When a ward has unused medicines that need to be sent back to the pharmacy:

  1. Open the patient's admission profile
  2. Click Return Medicines to Pharmacy
  3. Under Porter / Staff Carrying Medicines to Pharmacy, search for and select the staff member who will physically carry the medicines to the pharmacy
  4. Under Return to Pharmacy, select the pharmacy that will receive the medicines
  5. Under Medicines/Devices (from ward stock), search for and select the item and batch to return, enter the Quantity, and click Add
  6. Repeat for all items being returned. To remove an item, click the trash icon next to it
  7. Click Confirm Return to Pharmacy
  8. A confirmation dialog appears: "Return the selected items to the pharmacy via the selected porter? This cannot be undone." - click OK to proceed
  9. A return bill is generated and the items are deducted from the ward's stock and held against the porter until the pharmacy confirms receipt

Important: Once confirmed, the return cannot be undone from the ward side. Make sure the porter and item quantities are correct before confirming.

Step 5: Pharmacy Accepts the Returned Medicines from the Porter

  1. From the pharmacy menu, go to Inward > Pharmacy > Accept Returns from Ward
  2. The Medicine Returns Pending Receipt list shows all returns sent to this pharmacy that have not yet been received, with the Bill No, Returned From Ward, Returned By, Carried By (porter), and Returned At date/time
  3. If a recently created return does not appear, click Refresh
  4. Click Receive next to the return to process
  5. The receive page shows the Returned From Ward, Returned By, and Carried By details, along with a table of the items, batch numbers, expiry dates, and quantities being received
  6. Click Confirm Receipt
  7. A confirmation dialog appears: "Confirm that these returned medicines have been physically received into this pharmacy?" - click OK to proceed
  8. A receipt bill is generated showing Returned From Ward, Received Into (this pharmacy), Received At (date/time), and the items received with quantities
  9. The medicines are moved out of the porter's holding stock and added back into this pharmacy's stock
  10. Click Back to Pending List to return to the list of pending returns

Understanding Messages

Success Messages

  • Items added to the return list (Step 4) or receive table (Step 5) confirm the item and quantity were accepted

Warning Messages

  • "No substitute stocks available for [Item Name]" (Step 2): No alternatives are currently in stock - check with the pharmacy or try a different item
  • "Insufficient stock available. Required: X, Available: Y" (Step 2): Not enough stock for the requested quantity - choose a different substitute or adjust the quantity

Error Messages

  • "Cannot use expired stock" (Step 2): The selected substitute has expired - choose a different substitute
  • If a return cannot be received because the porter no longer holds enough stock of an item, the Accept Returns from Ward page will report the shortfall for that item - contact the ward and porter to confirm the actual quantity carried before retrying

Best Practices

  • Verify before confirming: Both Confirm Return to Pharmacy (Step 4) and Confirm Receipt (Step 5) update stock immediately and cannot be undone - double-check items, batches, and quantities first
  • Use Refresh on the pending list: If a return sent from the ward does not immediately appear in Accept Returns from Ward, click Refresh to reload the list
  • Match the porter: Make sure the staff member selected as Carried By in Step 4 is the same person physically delivering the medicines, since the returned stock is held against that person until Step 5 is completed
  • Review substitutions: When an item has been auto-substituted in Step 2, check the highlighted row and the "Auto-sub" note before settling the issue bill

Troubleshooting

Return Does Not Appear in "Accept Returns from Ward"

Symptoms: A return confirmed in Step 4 is not visible in the pending list in Step 5 Cause: The list was loaded before the return was created, or the return was sent to a different pharmacy Solution: Click Refresh on the Accept Returns from Ward page; verify the correct pharmacy is selected as the receiving department in Step 4

Substitute Button Has No Effect

Symptoms: Clicking 🔄 (Select a Substitute) does not show any alternatives, or "Replace" does not update the row Cause: No substitute stock is available, or another user is currently using the same substitute stock Solution: See Ward Pharmacy BHT Substitute Functionality for detailed troubleshooting steps

FAQ

Q: Can a ward return medicines directly to pharmacy stock without going through a porter? A: No. The return workflow always records the staff member carrying the medicines (the porter). The medicines remain held against that staff member's stock until pharmacy confirms receipt in Step 5.

Q: What happens if pharmacy issues a substitute item in Step 2 - does the ward see the original or the substituted item when returning it in Step 4? A: The ward returns whatever item is physically in its stock, which will be the substituted item if a substitution occurred.

Q: Who can access "Accept Returns from Ward"? A: Pharmacy staff with permission to accept BHT issue requests can also access Accept Returns from Ward.

Related Features

Back to Pharmacy

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