Tip · Drug monitoring · 7 Apr 2026 · 2 min read

Check your practice is registered for national safety alerts

National Patient Safety Alerts reach practices through the MHRA Central Alerting System. Make sure the address it uses is one someone actually reads.

01 / What's changed

Nothing new. National Patient Safety Alerts are issued by NHS England and sent out through the Central Alerting System (CAS), which the MHRA runs.
NHS England says declared compliance with alerts is a key safety indicator and a focus for CQC, and failing to act can lead to regulatory action.
The MHRA also publishes medicines recalls, device safety information and a monthly safety roundup on GOV.UK.

Practice managers in England who are responsible for receiving alerts and making sure the right clinician acts on them.

Check which email address CAS holds for your practice. To register or get help, the CAS help page asks you to contact its helpdesk with the alert email address, your practice name, ODS code and full address.
It is worth using an address that is still read when a named person is on leave, and checking that alerts are not filtered as junk.
Sign up to the GOV.UK email alerts for drug and device notices as a second route, so recalls do not depend on one inbox.
Consider keeping a simple log for each alert: date received, who reviewed it, whether it applies, any patient search run and what was done. Read the full alert for its own actions and timescales.