Seven-day scripts for MDSs halted in Wales
Advice
on how pharmacists should deal with GPs' withdrawal of seven-day prescriptions has been issued by Community Pharmacy Wales.
CPW recommends that pharmacists review their current provision of monitored
dosage systems and identify patients who would not qualify for MDS support
under the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. It
also suggests giving patients at least 30 days’ notice of any change
to the service they will receive.
GPs in Wales have been instructed to stop supplying seven-day prescriptions
issued “solely for the purpose of supporting monitored dosage tray
provision”, CPW says. This his been done for a number of reasons,
Ian Millington, secretary to Morgannwg Local Medical Committee, says
in a letter to GPs in Morgannwg posted on the CPW website.
“There is a potential risk that issuing scripts in this way to
generate extra fees for non-NHS funded work could be construed as a breach
of
the terms of service or even fraud,” he says. In addition, the
extra work involved in preparing seven-day prescriptions may be seen
as diverting funds from other NHS services and the use of MDS may raise
clinical governance issues and, potentially, liability for a prescriber “colluding
in this scheme” to administer drugs off-licence, Dr Millington
suggests. However, this advice does not, he emphasises, mean that seven-day
scripts issued for clinical reasons should cease. |
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