Pharmacy leaders are involved in "urgent discussions" with GPs and the government in response to growing concerns about prescriptions being directed to certain pharmacies, C+D has learned.

PSNC and Pharmacy Voice met with the Department of Health (DH) in June and the British Medical Association (BMA) this month (August 15) to discuss a "significant increase" in concerns about prescription directing reported by pharmacists and LPCs, the groups told C+D last week (August 20).

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	Reports included patients receiving promotional material leading them to believe that they had no choice of pharmacy and GPs promoting a particular pharmacy, PSNC and Pharmacy Voice claimed.

"Urgent discussions on this matter are ongoing: we have agreed to combine the information we both have on this and have opened up discussions with GP leaders about the issue," they said in a joint statement.

PSNC told C+D that it was calling for an overhaul of NHS regulations to curb the directing of prescriptions.

PSNC head of regulations Steve Lutener said the negotiator had suggested to the DH that pharmacy's terms of service relating to promotional and mailing lists should be amended to state that any arrangements with a GP, for example ordering or collecting of prescriptions, be available to all pharmacies on similar terms.

Where a GP has a financial interest in the pharmacy, the pharmacy should ensure patients are aware they are free to choose where to go for their medicines and "there should be no express or implied endorsement, nor promotion of the pharmacy by the medical practitioner", Mr Lutener said. 

PSNC said it would be discussing GP contract regulations with the BMA. General Medical Council guidance on commercial interests, published in March, emphasises the importance of patient choice and warned against directing prescriptions.

There is no specific reference to directing prescriptions in the code of practice for promotion of NHS services, but it does state that all information, claims and comparisons used in promotional material "should present accurate, balanced and fair information about services and make clear any material exclusion, limitation or qualification".

C+D reported in June that residents in Manchester rallied behind their local pharmacies in response to concerns that a nearby medical practice was directing patients to a particular pharmacy.