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.