Society and PSNC support plans to scrap CD script retention
Both the Royal Pharmaceutical Society and the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee support plans to scrap the requirement for pharmacies to keep prescriptions for Schedule 2 and 3 Controlled Drugs for two years after they have been dispensed.
The rule, set down in the Medicines (Sale or Supply) (Miscellaneous Provisions)
Regulations 1980, is to be dropped so that the recently introduced special
CD prescription forms can be sent to NHS prescription pricing organisations
for monitoring, as recommended by the Shipman Inquiry.
But the Society is concerned that the proposal leaves open the question
of whether pharmacies might have to photocopy such prescriptions and
keep the copies, as well as send the originals for monitoring.
The Society is also worried that NHS pricing bodies do not have consistent
policies on how long they keep prescriptions. Currently, prescriptions
from England will be kept for 14 months, while those from Wales are kept
for a year. In future, Welsh prescriptions will only be kept for three
months, after which an electronically scanned copy will be kept. The
Society takes the view that all original prescriptions should be kept
by the pricing authorities for 12 months, so that they are available
if investigations have to be carried out. |
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