Pharmacy Staff Offboarding Checklist for Access and Records

A pharmacy staff offboarding checklist should end a departing worker’s access, preserve required records and transfer unfinished work to an accepting owner. Returning a key covers only part of that job.

The difficult cases are often ordinary departures. Someone’s personal phone remains a recovery contact, or a supplier portal still recognises their account after their last shift.

This template covers operational access and information custody. Use separate qualified advice for employment decisions, final pay and professional responsibilities.

Start the pharmacy staff offboarding checklist before the cutoff

Appoint an offboarding owner and identify who can administer each system. Write down the authorised access cutoff, the reason and the people responsible for implementing it.

Treat the cutoff as the end of a legitimate access requirement, rather than assuming every departure follows the same timetable. Escalate an unplanned departure promptly.

The September 2026 ASD system-access guidance recommends removing or suspending access that same day when a legitimate requirement ends. It is an ISM recommendation.

The ISM overview explains its legal scope: it is advice unless a law or lawful direction requires compliance. Do not present its controls as blanket pharmacy legislation.

For planned departures, arrange approved handover before access ends. For urgent restrictions, the responsible owner should arrange continuing work through other authorised staff.

Record incomplete actions explicitly. A checklist signed while a vendor account remains active should show that exception, its interim control and its responsible owner.

Map every route into pharmacy information

Begin with the account list and verify it against the person’s actual duties. Ask system owners about access that does not appear in the main staff register.

Include dispensing and clinical systems, email, order handling, supplier portals, finance tools and shared document storage. Check remote access and third-party support arrangements too.

Look beyond usernames. Recovery email addresses, authentication devices, saved sessions, application connections and shared folders can all need attention from an authorised administrator.

Check physical access separately: keys, alarm permissions, access cards, filing cabinets and devices. A disabled email account does not close those routes.

OAIC’s health privacy guide includes pharmacists within its health service provider audience. Staff departure should therefore account for the health information the pharmacy holds.

Transfer work through records, not borrowed logins

List the departing person’s outstanding commitments. Include callbacks, supplier disputes, complaint actions and orders requiring another decision.

Name the receiving owner and record their acceptance. Transfer context through approved records so they can act without logging in as the departing worker.

Use the shift handover guide for the transfer itself. Offboarding adds a permanent access and custody change to that process.

Where a task involves clinical judgement, confirm that a suitably qualified person receives it. An administrative owner can coordinate without inheriting professional authority.

Ask whether any important record exists only in a personal folder or device. Resolve that custody problem through approved channels while respecting information-handling obligations.

Do not forward a whole mailbox to an external address for convenience. Have authorised staff identify the material and access needed for continuing work.

Use a system-by-system completion record

Area	Offboarding action in this template	Evidence to keep
Individual accounts	Remove or suspend authorised access	System, administrator, action and completion time
Sessions and connections	Review active sessions and connected applications	Revocation outcome or vendor confirmation
Recovery methods	Replace departing worker’s recovery or authentication role	Authorised replacement owner and successful check
Shared credentials	Rotate secrets the person knew where applicable	Systems covered and authorised custody
Devices and keys	Recover property and remove relevant permissions	Asset return and outstanding exceptions
Open work	Transfer commitments through controlled records	Receiving owner’s acceptance

Adapt the evidence to each system rather than collecting passwords in the checklist. Record who completed the control and how completion was checked.

If only a vendor can revoke access, open the request through an established contact. Keep the item open until confirmation or an approved alternative control exists.

Remove access without erasing the record

Account suspension, access revocation and data deletion are different operations. Ask the system administrator what each action actually does before using it.

Some records may need continued authorised access after the worker leaves. Preserve audit history and required business or clinical material through the approved retention process.

APP 11 requires reasonable technical and organisational safeguards for APP entities. Its destruction or de-identification requirement also has legally required retention exceptions.

Departure alone does not determine whether information must be deleted. Check the purpose, retention requirements and any applicable hold before disposing of records or wiping a device.

Preserve relevant evidence if an incident is suspected. Refer the matter to the pharmacy’s responsible privacy or security lead rather than attempting an informal investigation.

Do not use the departing worker’s credentials to retrieve records. Arrange authorised administrative access that keeps the identity and purpose of the retrieval clear.

Replace shared secrets and recovery dependencies

Where the worker knew a shared password, ask the authorised administrator to rotate it according to system policy. Review related recovery arrangements at the same time.

The OAIC security guide recommends prohibiting password sharing and considering how quickly leavers’ accounts are suspended or removed. Individual access makes later accountability clearer.

Avoid solving a departure by giving a replacement worker the old login. Set up appropriate access for the replacement and preserve the former account’s audit history.

Check that the pharmacy can recover essential accounts without the departing person’s phone or email. Use approved organisational recovery methods and test them safely.

For contractors and locums, confirm any planned expiry and renewal process. Returning for a later shift should trigger a fresh authorised access decision.

Verify closure with the remaining team

Have the offboarding owner check completion evidence against the original access list. Where practical, use administrator reports to confirm the account’s actual status.

Confirm continuing staff can access the required records through their own permissions. Access removal should not leave an unresolved order or clinical responsibility without a recipient.

Record any property not returned or control still awaiting a vendor response. Specify the interim restriction and the person responsible for closing the exception.

Use the business continuity guide if a missing recovery dependency interrupts operations. Record the recovery decision through the approved process.

Finally, update the account and asset registers so the next departure starts from an accurate inventory. Review which missed access routes the exercise revealed.

The useful completion test is concrete: access ended, required records remained controlled and someone accepted every continuing commitment.