Each young person has a medication record: their medicines and balances, their prescriptions, supplies booked in, and every dose ever recorded. Doses are recorded on the round; this is where prescriptions are entered and the record is read back.

Enter a prescription

Open the young person's Medication page and choose Enter a prescription.
Fill in the medicine from the label: drug name, strength, dose and route. Choose Regular, at set times and add the times, or When required (PRN) and copy both limits from the label — the shortest time between doses and the most in 24 hours.
Set when it starts, and optionally when it stops and when it is reviewed.
Save. ARC says someone else now needs to check it against the label.

The second check

Every prescription is checked by a second person against the pharmacy label. Until then it sits under Awaiting check, no doses are scheduled, and it cannot be given. Whoever entered it cannot check it. The checker opens it and chooses I've checked this. Entering and checking both need in-date medication training.

To change a dose or timing, use Change dose or timing on the medicine; the change also needs a second check. A manager or deputy can Record review and Stop a prescription.

Book supplies in

Choose Book supplies in when medicine arrives from the pharmacy. ARC asks for the quantity, batch number and expiry date, and a controlled drug needs a witness.

Correct the record

The Record section never edits an entry. Anyone can choose Flag a mistake from an entry's menu; a manager or deputy can choose Amend, say why, and record what really happened in its place. The original stays on the record struck through, and the amendment goes to the medication errors list. You cannot amend an entry you recorded yourself.

The MAR chart

Choose MAR chart at the top of the page. It shows one month at a time; use the arrows to move between months, and Download PDF for a copy.

The top of the page summarises the month: regular doses given, not given and missed, when-required doses, late and amended entries, and errors raised. Below it is a grid of every dose against every day. Each cell shows initials, coloured by what happened — Given, Given by someone outside the home, Not given, Missed or Amended — and hovering or tapping a cell shows the name, time and any reason. The key sits under the grid.

When a young person moves on

If a young person no longer lives in the home but medicines are still held for them, a manager or deputy sees a prompt to close the medicines out, counting each one to a named adult or back to the pharmacy with a witness. The closing count needs in-date medication training, so the person closing out must have it.