The veterinary receptionist’s role in dispensing medicines: the dos and don’ts

According to the BVRA dispensing survey 2025, 48 percent of veterinary receptionists reported spending between 25 and 40 percent of their day managing medicine requests, dispensing medication and notifying clients when their pet’s medication is ready for collection. A further 32 percent said they spent between 40 and 60 percent of their time on these tasks. Given how significant a part of the veterinary receptionist’s role this is, it’s essential to have a clear understanding of what is and isn’t permitted when it comes to dispensing medication.

What veterinary medicines can a veterinary receptionist prescribe?

Dispensing medication is the process of preparing and labelling medication for a client to collect for their pet. This is very different from prescribing a medication for a pet, as this is something that is only permitted to be done by a veterinary surgeon and, in some cases, a pharmacist or suitably qualified person (SQP).

Medications are classified into 4 categories: POM/POM-V (prescription-only medicine – veterinarian), POM-VPS (prescription-only medicine – veterinarian, pharmacist or SQP), NFA-VPS (non-food animal – veterinarian, pharmacist or SQP) and AVM-GSL (authorised veterinary medicine general sales list). The category that a medicine falls into dictates who is allowed to prescribe that medicine.

The only category that veterinary receptionists are allowed to prescribe is medicines which fall into the AVM-GSL category

As shown in Table 1, the only category that veterinary receptionists are allowed to prescribe is medicines which fall into the AVM-GSL category. These medicines are products that can be sold over the counter, and care should be taken to advise clients on their correct administration, usage and storage.

What are the appropriate storage options for different medications?

Veterinary receptionists can be responsible for placing and receiving orders, which requires some knowledge of the various medications and their safe storage and handling:

• Items that require refrigeration should be checked off a delivery first and placed in the fridge as soon as they arrive
• Vaccines should have their batch number and expiry date checked with the invoice to ensure they match
• Controlled drugs are those that require a specific form to be filled in by a veterinary surgeon to be ordered and have strict storage requirements when they arrive in practice. Controlled drugs should be stored in a locked safe which requires a veterinary surgeon to open. Further, some need to be recorded in a controlled drugs register upon arrival 
• Other types of drugs with specific storage and handling requirements are those which are cytotoxic, ie can cause damage to cells. These types of drugs require very careful handling and should never be handled by someone who is or might be pregnant or anyone who is immunocompromised

When placing newly received medications onto the dispensary shelves, these items should be placed behind those that are already on the shelf unless they have a shorter expiry date. Stock should be rotated to be used in date order to reduce the risk of products going out of date and having to be disposed of. 

Any open products should be marked with a cross on their packaging so that it is obvious that they are open. Some liquid medications need to be disposed of a certain number of days after being opened, so this information should be written on the outer packaging. The date of use of expiry labels can be helpful to highlight this information. Liquids packaged in brown bottles are light sensitive, so they should be stored in their outer box and out of direct light.

What are the types of packaging available for dispensing medications?

As well as the storage requirements for the various drugs, it is important to know about the various types of packaging that are available for their dispensing and the most appropriate type to use (Table 2). 

When counting out tablets that are not foil wrapped, a tablet counter should be used to ensure that the tablets are handled as little as possible. Liquids should be handled carefully, and measuring cups should be used when dispensing them. Disposable gloves should always be worn when handling medications, and your practice should have its own Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for this.

All medications must be dispensed with a label that supplies sufficient written information for it to be used safely. This is a legal requirement that requires the following information to be on the label (RCVS, 2025):

• Name and address of the pet owner
• Name and address of the veterinary practice supplying the medication
• Date of supply
• Name, strength and quantity of product
• Dosage and directions for use
• Statement of “For animal treatment only”
• For topical preparations, statement of “For external use only”

Most practice management systems now have the ability to add a QR code to a label, which when scanned takes the client directly to the NOAH Compendium for that particular drug so that they can access the datasheet for the product. It is advisable to be able to give a client a printed copy of a datasheet for any drugs dispensed that are not in their original packaging.

What are the steps for dispensing veterinary medications?

When taking a request for medication, you should access the pet’s record by asking for the pet and the owner’s names and then asking the client to confirm their address. You should ask which medication they want to order, while also confirming the strength and amount of the medication. You should then look at the pet’s records to see when it was last seen by a veterinary surgeon.

If the pet has not been seen for more than six months, then the client should be advised that they need an appointment before any medication can be dispensed for them. If the pet has been seen less than six months ago, then the request can be submitted to the vet.

Clients should then be advised of an expected timeframe for the practice to contact them, and confirm that the practice will call them to advise when their pet’s medication will be ready to collect. The request should then be added to the list for the veterinary surgeon to dispense.

Once the veterinary surgeon has dispensed the medication and the label has been produced, the veterinary receptionist should carefully check the details on the label and dispense the correct drug in the appropriate container. The medication should be placed in a suitable area for the veterinary surgeon to check and countersign. No medication should be given to a client that has not been countersigned by another member of staff.

Once the medication is ready for the client to collect, it should be stored appropriately. The use of alphabetised drawers using clients’ surnames is a great method of storing medication. Items that require refrigeration should remain refrigerated until collection, and any controlled drugs kept locked in the safe.

When a client comes to collect their medication, it is good practice to ask them to confirm their surname, pet’s name and their address. I like to ask the client if they have had the medication before; if not, I will explain what it is used for and advise on the dosage and administration. With any liquid medication that is to be drawn up using a syringe, I show the client where this should be on the syringe.

Final thoughts

Dealing with medication requests and dispensing medications is a large part of the veterinary receptionist’s role. As such, it is important to have some knowledge of what we can and cannot do, and also how to dispense medication safely and efficiently.