EXCLUSIVE

Many GPs are unaware they should be displaying NHS England’s prescription direction poster, C+D has learned.

The commissioning body told C+D that the poster – designed by the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) – was sent to GP surgeries on October 2, along with a letter.

The poster informs patients that they have “the right to collect medicines from any pharmacy you choose”, but NHS England told C+D that it has no authority to make GPs display it.

Bexley clinical commissioning group chair Nikita Kanani told C+D this week that she has “not received or heard of” the poster, while Cornwall GP Matthew Boulter said he didn’t have “the faintest idea” what the poster was.

East Anglia GP Matthew Piccaver also expressed surprise when C+D told him about the existence of the poster.

Sanjay Ganvir, director of London’s Green Light Pharmacy chain, told C+D he had not seen the poster in any surgeries. “[I] would be interested to hear if anyone else has,” he added.

GP and former NHS Alliance chief executive Mike Dixon said the poster is “only a beginning”, and it would more effective for GPs to “get the message out” in their practice newsletter and to discuss prescription direction directly with patients.

“Only about 60% of our population see us in the year and quite a lot are distracted when they do,” Dr Dixon stressed. “There are a lot of posters in GP surgeries and we need to be far cleverer than that.”
 

Pharmacist view

Some pharmacists also seemed unsure whether they had received the poster, which PSNC said was sent out last month in the October edition of its Community Pharmacy News newsletter.

Kent contractor Amish Patel said that he hasn’t received it yet, while Huddersfield pharmacy manager Amanda Smith said she hasn’t “come across it yet, but will seek it out”.

However, Kensington, Chelsea and Westminster local pharmaceutical committee (LPC) chair Rekha Shah told C+D that around 20 pharmacies in her patch had received and already displayed the poster.

PSNC suggested that some pharmacists may have missed the poster, which was delivered as the centre two pages of Community Pharmacy News, “rather than [as] a separate poster inserted into the magazine”.

Any pharmacists who have not received the poster or would like additional copies should contact [email protected].
 

Will the prescription direction poster make any impact?

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