An occasional feature, prepared in the Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s Professional Standards Directorate, to highlight problems and inquiries currently being handled

• Record-keeping for supply of “specials”
• Do not accept FP10s for replenishing surgery stock

Record-keeping for supply of “specials”

Pharmacists are reminded that guidance issued by the Medicines Control Agency now requires that certain records should be kept when supplying a “special” — a product made by a licensed manufacturer for treating an individual patients, on the order of a doctor or dentist.

The supplying pharmacist must keep for five years a record of

• the product's source
• the person to whom it was supplied
• the date of supply
• the quantity supplied
• the batch number
• details of any adverse reactions to the product to which the pharmacist is aware

It is not a requirement to keep details of the prescriber. The records should be available on request for inspection.

Pharmacists may keep these records in a book such as that produced by the National Pharmaceutical Association for the purpose. Alternatively the requirements can be met by retaining the invoice and attaching a copy of the dispensing label.

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Do not accept FP10s for replenishing surgery stock

In England and Wales FP10 prescription forms cannot be used for the replenishment of general practitioners' surgery stock. Because a separate fund for practice stock exists within the National Health Service contract for doctors, using FP10s to replenish stock could constitute NHS fraud. Although pharmacists should maintain close professional links with doctors' surgeries, dispensing FP10s known to be for replenishing surgery stock could be held to be unprofessional conduct. Pharmacists who do so could become implicated in fraud investigations.

In Scotland the situation differs because a doctor may use a GP10A form to obtain surgery stock.

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