Medicines Management Bulletin
Issue No. 31 Date: February 2026
SAFE LABELLING OF INTRAVENOUS (IV) BOLUS MEDICATIONS LABELLING OF IV MEDICATIONS FLAG LABELLING: Use on small syringes to ensure volume graduations are not obscured. MULTIPLE BOLUSES: If a patient receives more than one bolus at once, all syringes must be flag-labelled with the yellow label to be able to identify each medication. YELLOW LABELS: syringes, infusions, and docked bags must be labelled using a YELLOW additive label immediately after preparation by the person who prepared them. WHAT MUST BE ON THE LABEL? Every yellow label must be completed with: • Patient’s Name & Hospital Number (Inpatients) • Medicine Name & Amount • Diluent used • Route of administration • Date & Time of Preparation • Date & Time of Expiry • Initials of staff preparing and checking the dose FLUSHES: Pre-filled ‘Flush’ syringes do not require a label
Remember to only handle one unlabelled medicine at a time, and only if administration is a single uninterrupted process where the product never leaves your hand.
Please refer to the Medicines Code on Trust Approved Documents (TAD) on the Intranet for further information. Feedback or comments on the content of this bulletin, or suggestions of medicines related topics for inclusion in future bulletins, can be directed to gilliansmith2@nhs.net