New Controlled Drug prescribing rules introduced
Noble Phil Noble/Empics
The Shipman Inquiry’s findings triggered the changes |
New arrangements for supplying Controlled Drugs in England are to be
introduced on 1 April (PDF 110K).
Pharmacists will be expected to adopt the new system, initiated in response
to the Shipman Inquiry, even though it will be unenforceable at first
because it has no statutory backing. The system will only become mandatory
when the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001 are amended later in the year.
Any changes to the Regulations, however, will apply to Scotland and Wales,
as well as to England.
A new NHS prescription form will be phased in as old pads are used up
and a new private prescription form supplied by the NHS will be introduced
with immediate effect. All private prescriptions for CDs will have to
be written on the new forms.
Prescriptions for Schedule 2, 3 and 4 CDs will only be valid for 28 days
(down from the current 91 days) and will have to be written on the new
forms. Prescribers will be strongly recommended to restrict supplies
to 30 days at a time unless there are exceptional circumstances of clinical
need.
From 1 April, pharmacies, whether they hold NHS contracts or not, will
be expected to send photocopies of all prescriptions for Schedule 2 and
3 CDs, both NHS and private, to the Prescription Pricing Division of
the NHS Services Authority (formerly the Prescription Pricing Authority).
After amendment of the Misuse of Drugs Regulations, they will have to
send the originals and keep photocopies for their own records.
Private CD prescriptions signed and dated before 1 April will continue
to be valid for 13 weeks from the time they were written.
Pharmacists will be expected to send any patients who present private
CD prescriptions that are not written on the new forms and are dated
after 1 April back to the prescriber.
Pharmacists will also be expected to ask anyone who collects a dispensed
Schedule 2 CD to show some identification and to sign the back of the
prescription form. Pharmacists will have discretion not to ask for ID
but will be expected to record this in their CD registers. People who
collect Schedule 3 CDs will not be asked to prove who they are, but will
still have to sign the back of the form.
The new arrangements will not apply to instalment prescriptions written
on forms FP10 MDA, except for the reduction in validity from 91 days
to 28 days.
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society will publish guidance on the changes
shortly. The guidance is likely to come in separate versions for England,
Scotland and Wales. In
addition, new governance arrangements for CDs in England are due to come
into effect on 1 April.
News p309 |
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