Society to push for original pack dispensing as standard practice
Support for original pack dispensing is to come from the Royal Pharmaceutical Society in the interest of patient safety and it is to enlist the help of other bodies to persuade the Department of Health to take appropriate action.
The Council made that decision at the August
Council meeting after considering
a paper from the Practice Committee. Giving the background to the proposal,
the paper said that community pharmacists face a legal requirement to
supply with every medicine a patient information leaflet (PIL) produced
by the holder of the marketing authorisation. However, an estimated 45
per cent of medicines are still dispensed from broken bulk or split packs,
making it difficult to provide the appropriate PIL.
In theory, the committee says, PILs can be accessed from the Electronic
Medicines Compendium website, but it does not include a comprehensive
list and accessing it is not a practical option for many pharmacies.
Obtaining supplies direct from manufacturers is also not practical, and
photocopying leaflets can result in loss of detail, colour and legibility.
Resorting to such methods also carries the risk of supplying an out-of-date
or otherwise incorrect leaflet.
The committee lists a number of benefits of original pack dispensing
if it were to become standard practice. These include the following:
· Patients would receive medicines that are in appropriate packaging
with relevant information, including a patient information leaflet, thus
reducing the risk of confusion
· Braille readers would be able to gain more information when Braille
is introduced on original packs later this year
· Batch number and expiry date information would appear on all dispensed
medicines
· Medicines would be in patient-friendly packs on which companies have
spent significant time and resource to design and test
· Fewer medicines would be supplied in bottles with the child-resistant
closures that cause problems for some patients, particularly the elderly
· Opportunities for error would reduce, and efficiencey would increase,
because there would be fewer steps in the dispensing process
· Original pack dispensing would facilitate automated dispensing, which
again could reduce the numebr of errors that occur in teh dispensing
process
The committee acknowledges that there are certain medicines, such as
cytotoxic agents or drugs liable to abuse, for which the risk of issuing
more than the amount required by the patient may outweigh the benefits
of original pack dispensing. For some patients, the advantages of monitored
dosage systems may outweigh its benefits.
The committee also recognises that supplying in original packs when a
different quantity has been prescribed could conflict with the current
requirements under the Medicines Act 1968 and pharmacists’ NHS
terms of service. However, with electronic transfer of prescriptions,
systems could be put in place to facilitate prescribing in original pack
quantities.
Introducing the paper to the Council, Sultan Dajani, chairman of the
Practice Committee, said that opponents of original pack dispensing tended
to assume that it would be costly but it could actually reduce cost by
reducing the number of adverse incidents.
The Council then agreed that the Society should issue a formal statement
supporting the introduction of original pack dispensing for primary and
secondary care as standard practice unless it is not in the best interest
of the patient.
The Council further agreed that the Society would work with other pharmacy
and stakeholders organisations to influence the Department of Health
to change the current regulations relating to original pack dispensing
for community pharmacy and to redirect funding to support implementation
of original pack dispensing in hospitals.
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The
Pharmaceutical Journal