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The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 268 No 7203 p861-867
22 June 2002

Legal requirements for emergency supplies not appreciated by doctors

Other papers publishedd in the latest issue of the IJPP

• The issue of territoriality between pharmacists and physicians in primary care (R. N. Reebye, A. J. Avery, P. Bissell and C. van Weel)

• A randomised controlled trial of a pharmaceutical care programme in high-risk diabetic patients in an outpatient clinic (R. M. Clifford, K. T. Batty, T. M. E. Davis, W. Davis, G. Stein, G. Stewart and R. J. Plumridge)

• A classification system for issues identified in pharmaceutical care practice (J. Krska, D. Jamieson, F. Arris, A. McGuire, S. Abbott, D. Hansford and J. Cromarty)

• The influence of pharmacy staff in non-prescription medicine sales (L. Emmerton and J. Shaw)

• Consumer opinions on medicines information and factors affecting its use — an Australian experience (M. Koo, I. Krass and P. Aslani)

• Surveillance of adverse drug reactions at two multidisciplinary hospitals and an outpatient specialty clinic in India (S. A. Samuel, S. D. Rajendran, S. Ebenezzar, S. Jayaharan and P. Azir)

• The use of serial point-prevalence studies to investigate hospital anti-infective prescribing (B. Dean, W. Lawson, A. Jacklin, T. Rogers, B. Azadian and A. Holmes)

• How relevant is Marxist sociology for pharmacy practice research? (P. Bissell, J. Morgall Traulsen and L. Stig Haugbølle)

Many pharmacists believe that doctors do not fully appreciate either the legal requirements or the extra work involved in providing emergency supplies of prescription only medicines, researchers say.

Researchers from the Centre of Practice and Policy, School of Pharmacy, University of London, gathered data from community pharmacist using a questionnaire in three health authority areas in greater London and south east England.

They say that one-fifth of pharmacists claimed that receiving a prescription from a prescriber within the required 72 hours following a request was uncommon. However, the frequency of requests from prescribers does not suggest that the facility is overused and pharmacists do not perceive it to be so. "Most are happy to provide the service, seeing it as a good example of interprofessional co-operation."

On average, pharmacists received requests from both doctors and patients between once and twice a month. Over a third of the 243 respondents reported receiving weekly requests for emergency supplies of POMs from patients and a further third received requests at least monthly. Over half the respondents reported receiving requests from doctors at least once a month.

The most commonly requested items were inhalers for asthma and medication for cardiovascular disease.

The researchers also found that 11 per cent of pharmacists "loaned" prescription medication to patients on a daily basis on the promise of a prescription. They comment: "This is a procedure for which there is no provision in legislation, but anecdotally it is believed to be fairly widespread practice."

The researchers conclude that, in the future, pharmacists can expect greater involvement in, and responsibility for, managing medication for their clients, especially those taking medicines long-term. However, "professional developments, as envisaged by the British government and the pharmacy profession, will require greater flexibility regarding arrangements for the supply of prescription only medicines".

The study is published in The International Journal of Pharmacy Practice (2002;10:77). The IJPP is available through the Pharmaceutical Press and abstracts appear on PJ Online.