Out-of-hours emergency supplies plan for Cornwall
David Hughes/Dreamstime.com
Rurality prompts PCT to devise emergency supplies plan |
Emergency supplies of medicines will be available from selected pharmacies in Cornwall under a patient group direction in the lead-up to Christmas.
The pilot service, kicking off in the coming weeks and running through
to the end of March 2008, will involve out-of-hours supply of medicines
to patients who have had the items on repeat prescription in the past.
Cathy Noakes, community pharmacy clinical governance lead at Cornwall
and Isles of Scilly Primary Care Trust, explained that there was an initial
trial of the scheme at one pharmacy in Newquay during the summer, which
proved successful.
“We were aware once the GP contract had changed
that there could be some issues in Cornwall, because of its rural nature,
around the urgent supply of repeat medicines to patients. Out-of-hours
service providers were being asked quite frequently to make such supplies,” she
said.
This second wave of the service will take place through various pharmacies,
covering most of the major towns in Cornwall.
Mrs Noakes explained that one of the benefits of dispensing under the
PGD is that GPs will be told what has been done, whereas conventional
emergency supplies are often lost to follow-up.
She added that NHS Scotland, which began a similar
scheme at the end of 2005 (PJ, 3 December 2005, p682), provided
the PCT with valuable information. The PCT has adapted much of the Scottish
paperwork to meet its own requirements
for the scheme (see Panel below).
The PCT will evaluate the success of
the pilot, which will also cover the Easter holiday period, with a
view to
expanding the service to all pharmacies in the region.
How the out-of-hours scheme will
work
Patients who live in the area are eligible to receive
up to five days’ supply of a repeat medicine under the PGD.
People who are normally exempt from prescription charges will pay
nothing and those who normally pay will be charged a nominal fee,
to be decided by the PCT. Patients from other parts of the country
are eligible to receive a quantity of medicines to cover the length
of their stay as well as a couple of days’ worth for when
they get home.
The service will only be available out of surgery
hours
because GPs are already paid to see temporary patients during normal
working hours.
Pharmacies will be paid £5 for the first medicine supplied
and £1 each for any further items, as well as the NHS cost
of the drugs.
Payment will come direct from the PCT, which is producing
triplicate pads for the pharmacies involved — one copy of
the PGD paperwork is sent to the patient’s GP, the second
copy is retained by the pharmacy and the third copy (without patient
information)
goes to the PCT for payment. |
|
The
Pharmaceutical Journal
Acrobat
Reader