NHS England is publishing a poster to raise awareness among pharmacy patients that they are free to chose where they collect their prescriptions, PSNC has revealed.

The poster would be sent to pharmacies and GP surgeries “soon” and was the “latest phase” in a project to help LPCs instigate discussions about prescription direction, PSNC said on Tuesday (May 19).

The roll-out of release 2 of the electronic prescription service (EPS2) had resulted in “particular concerns” about the “inappropriate” nomination of pharmacies for patients to collect their prescriptions. The planned posters would “assure patients that they are free to choose any pharmacy they like”, PSNC said.

The negotiator believed the “best solution” to this “ongoing" problem would be to tighten NHS regulations to ensure pharmacies and medical practices did not “unduly influence a patient” to select a particular pharmacy. However, the Department of Health “prefers that alternatives to legislation are explored”, PSNC said.

Significant issue

The direction of prescriptions was a “significant issue” for some pharmacies, said PSNC director of regulation and support Steve Lutener. “We hope that communications expected to come from NHS England will help, but if they don’t we’ll certainly be pushing for regulatory change once again," he said.

Mr Lutener called on pharmacists to gather evidence of the issue and share it with PSNC so it could “take action if needed”.

PSNC added that dispensing data published by the NHS Business Services Authority could provide “compelling evidence” for contractors to show when prescriptions were being directed “in bulk” to a certain pharmacy in their area.

Neither PSNC nor NHS England were able to confirm when the posters would be sent to pharmacies.

Yesterday, C+D reported that NHS England had warned patients to check the identity of cold callers claiming to be from a distance-selling pharmacy with NHS backing. 

 

Have you experienced issues with distance-selling pharmacies in your area?

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