Changes to the arrangements for dealing with Controlled
Drug requisitions — Part II
This Law and Ethics Bulletin forms the second and final part of a series. This bulletin gives information on the submission processes in place for Schedule 1, 2 or 3 Controlled Drug requisitions. A previous bulletin (Part
I), published on 15
December 2007 (p697), covered the handling of requisitions
in community pharmacy against which supplies of Controlled Drugs for human
use are made. (NB — prescribers cannot normally obtain and prescribe
Schedule 1 Controlled Drugs without the authority of a Home Office licence.)
These changes came into force on 1 January 2008, and apply to England,
Scotland and Wales.
Dedicated standardised requisition forms have been introduced in England,
(FP10CDF), Scotland (CDRF) and Wales (WP10CDF) for the ordering of Schedule
1, 2 and 3 Controlled Drugs. Although it is not a legal requirement to
do so, persons who wish to obtain stocks of these Controlled Drugs from
a community pharmacy should use the respective standardised requisition
form. The Department of Health, the Scottish Executive and the Department
of Health and Social Services Wales (DHSSW) expect persons ordering Controlled
Drugs from community pharmacies to use these forms routinely.
Once the requisition of a Schedule 1, 2 or 3 Controlled Drug has been duly
marked by the pharmacist (with the pharmacy stamp containing the pharmacy’s
name and address), and supplied against, the pharmacist should make a copy
of the requisition. The copy must be preserved and retained by the pharmacist
for two years from the date of supply.
The original requisition form should then be sent to the relevant NHS agency.
This is the Prescription Pricing Division (PPD) in England, the NHS National
Services Scotland (NSS) in Scotland, and Health Solutions Wales (HSW) in
Wales. The relevant NHS agency will retain the original requisition for
two years from the date of submission.
In exceptional circumstances, where a form other than the standardised
requisition is used, there is still a legal requirement to submit the original
requisition to the relevant NHS agency, and to retain a copy.
Although it is not a legal requirement to provide a requisition where one
community pharmacy supplies another community pharmacy, both the Society
and the Department of Health or the Scottish Executive or the DHSSW, advise
that, as a matter of good practice, a written requisition should be obtained.
This type of requisition should also be submitted to the relevant NHS agency
for processing.
England Original requisition forms should be sent to the PPD by the fifth
day of the following month, using the code used to submit private Controlled
Drug prescriptions, ie, the F code, along with the submission document
FP34PCD.
The requisitions should be separated from the NHS prescription forms and
from the private Controlled Drug prescription forms. Suppliers who need
to submit requisitions but do not already have a private Controlled Drug
prescription F code must contact their local primary care trust (or its
agency). The necessary arrangements will then be made with the PPD.
For further information on submission procedures see the following websites:
• www.ppa.org.uk
• www.epact.ppa.nhs.uk
Scotland Original requisitions should be submitted to the NSS by the fifth
day of the following month, along with the submission document CD34, copies
of which can be obtained from Practitioner Services, 3 Bain Square, Kirkton
Campus, Livingston EH54 7DQ (tel 01506 705100; fax 01506 705191).
A specific form for use by one community pharmacy to obtain stock from
another community pharmacy has been developed in Scotland and should be
used for this purpose. Currently, these forms are available from Practitioner
Services (details as above).
For further information on obtaining the requisition forms and submission
procedures see the following websites:
• www.nhsnss.org
• www.scotland.gov.uk
Wales The original requisitions should be submitted along with the NHS
prescriptions and private Controlled Drug prescriptions in the usual manner
using the updated submission document WP34. The requisitions should be
separated from the NHS prescription forms and from the private Controlled
Drug prescription forms.
For further information on submission procedures see the following websites:
• www.hsw.wales.nhs.uk
• www.wales.nhs.uk |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal