Patients should be able to buy Tamiflu, according to NPA
Patients should be able to buy Tamiflu (oseltamivir) privately in pharmacies under a patient group direction rather than having to get a private prescription for it, the National Pharmaceutical Association has told the Department of Health.
The DoH is proposing to allow GPs to write private prescriptions for
Tamiflu for NHS patients by adding it to Schedule 11 of the NHS (General
Medical Services) Regulations. The NPA points out that this will not
reduce GP workload, as patients will still have to make appointments
in order to obtain private prescriptions. “In times of influenza
epidemic, GP appointments are often scare, yet oseltamivir has a short
period during which it is appropriate to be taken,” the NPA notes.
Instead, it says that the DoH should extend PGDs to the private sector.
PGDs have worked well since they were introduced in 2000 allowing improved
access to medicines under the NHS and reducing GP consultations, the
NPA says.
“We believe that allowing pharmacists to supply certain medicines
that are not reimbursable by the NHS by way of PGD schemes ... offers
distinct
advantages for patient care and is consistent with appropriate professional
relationships and accountability,” the NPA says. Similar arrangements
to the current NHS requirements for approving the PGDs and deciding which
medicines and indications to include could be drawn up.
If Tamiflu is added to Schedule 11, the NPA wants GP and pharmacy computer
system suppliers to ensure that the necessary “SLS” endorsement
is produced in order to avoid prescriptions having to be returned. |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal