The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 268 No 7183 p123-130
2 February 2002

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Supplies of dressings are taken off prescription in Isle of Wight pilots

Isle of Wight Primary Care Trust is piloting a new way of supplying dressings through community pharmacies without the need for a doctor's prescription. If the scheme is successful, which the PCT expects it will be, it will be implemented throughout the island in April. It will also be extended to include the supply of sip feeds ,and incontinence and ostomy appliances, and will account for 10 per cent of the PCT's prescribing budget.

In the pilot stage, which involves dressings only and operates through one pharmacy and a six-partner surgery, nurses order supplies of dressings direct from the pharmacy on special forms. These forms only allow requests for dressings included in the local formulary. The pharmacy is paid at Drug Tariff prices plus VAT and receives no dispensing fee.

Noel Staunton, pharmacy development manager for the PCT, says that this is cheaper for the trust and more profitable for the pharmacy because there is no discount deduction and payment is made in full each month. Other advantages of the system are that non-formulary items cannot be ordered, nurses and GPs save time and items can be used for any patient that needs them, rather than only for a patient named on a prescription.

If the scheme is successful, Mr Staunton says that there is no reason why it could not be used as a means of replacing prescription supply for all items, including medicines, which do not have to be prescribed by a doctor.

The community pharmacist involved, Gary Warner, says that this is the first opportunity pharmacists in the Isle of Wight have had to deal with the PCT on a level playing field. From time management and financial points of view, he is happy with the early results of the trial.

The new system is being compared with an alternative scheme being piloted at a seven-partner surgery, which involves dressings being ordered from a hospital. Mr Staunton expects the pharmacy pilot to provide better value because the hospital system involves administrative charges and a three day wait for deliveries, although the cost of the dressings is lower because of the hospital's purchasing power.

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