| · Birdsgrove House (2)
· Pharmacy practice (2)
· Adverse events
· Child protection
· Emergency supplies
· Reciprocity
· Chloramphenicol
· Retention fees
Letters to the Editor
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Emergency supplies
Not satisfied
From Mr S. Green, MRPharmS
Am I the only one not satisfied by Lynsey
Balmer’s response (PJ,
30 July, p138)? She clearly states that “An emergency supply is
a private transaction”, therefore it cannot miraculously become
an NHS transaction a few days later.
Patients who present an FP10 NHS prescription should have the full prescribed
quantity dispensed. Failure to do so would be both a breach of the new
terms of service and defrauding the NHS.
This issue should be kept totally separate from whether or not an emergency
supply (private transaction) has previously taken place.
I do not believe that the NHS regulations allow the community pharmacist
to “choose to deduct the quantity of the emergency supply (private
transaction) from the quantity ordered on the prescription (NHS transaction)” as
stated by Lynsey Balmer. If they do, please could she direct me to the
said regulation?
Shaun Green
Director of Prescribing and Medicines Management
Taunton Deane Primary Care Trust
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LYNSEY BALMER, head of professional ethics at the
Royal Pharmaceutical Society replies:
My previous response reflects the
Society’s long-standing
guidance on this matter. The NHS Regulations do not make reference to
an emergency supply at the request of a patient; neither do they prohibit
the action outlined in my earlier response. The NHS Counter Fraud and
Security Management Service has confirmed that the Society’s guidance
on this matter would not be viewed as fraudulent, provided that, where
the quantity of the emergency supply is deducted from the quantity ordered
on the prescription, any charge made to the patient at the time of the
emergency supply is then refunded. |
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The
Pharmaceutical Journal