Views sought on dismantling blister packs in advance
Ed Phillips/Dreamstime.com
Medicines could be removed from blister strips ahead of dispensing |
Pharmacists are being asked whether professional guidelines should be changed to allow the removal of medicines from blister or foil packs in advance of them being dispensed to patients.
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society is suggesting that the change be written
into guidance which supports the profession’s code of ethics because the current clause is out of step with the modern practices of robotic dispensing and monitored dosage systems (MDS).
The present standards and guidance for the sale or supply of medicines
states that “medicines must be removed from the blister or foil
packs only at the time of dispensing to assist an individual patient”.
The Society, in its consultation document, says: “Developments
such as robotic dispensing and MDS could require the de-blistering of
products at some time prior to the actual supply. This is already happening
with MDS cassettes which are routinely made up in one operation for supply
on consecutive weeks.”
In another consultation, pharmacists are asked whether the guidance should
also be changed to allow them to dispense out-of-date or returned medicines
in the case of an influenza pandemic.
In this consultation document the Society points out that some medicines
do not degrade once they reach their expiry date and could still be safely
dispensed for a period of time.
In a national emergency, such as a flu pandemic, when community pharmacists
may face shortages of medicines, allowing discretion on their continued
supply after the expiry date could help ease the effect of such a shortage
and benefit patients, provided that the patient had been informed and
had consented to such a supply, the consultation suggests.
The Society is also recommending that, in the case of a national emergency,
returned medicines could be dispensed if they are still in their original
packaging and look fit for purpose.
Commenting on the consultations, the Society’s head of professional
ethics Priya Sejpal said: “During the review of the code of ethics
the Society recognised the need to provide more detailed standards separately
to the code itself.
“As technology and practice develop so too might the standards
and guidance documents.”
The consultations,
which can be accessed on the Society’s
website, close on 20 June 2008. |
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