The Department of Health and Social Care (DH) this week (September 1) announced that pharmacists and GPs will be able to “prescribe flu medicines year-round” to “help save lives and protect the NHS”.
“The government is removing the restriction that means certain flu medications cannot begin to be prescribed outside the usual ‘flu season’ until an annual letter of confirmation from the chief medical officer (CMO) is received,” it said.
“Until now, GPs and pharmacies had to be commissioned via a patient-specific direction (PSD) to prescribe certain medicines, which led to delays,” the DH explained, adding that it also meant “clinicians could prescribe some medicines and not others”.
Read more: UPDATED: Pharmacists can supply antivirals at NHS expense as flu cases boom
But the change to prescribing regulations will now permit antivirals oseltamivir (Tamiflu) and zanamivir (Relenza) to be prescribed and dispensed “outside the flu season”, it said.
The reform was due to be implemented on the day of the DH announcement, once a statutory instrument was laid, the government told C+D.
It added that the decision “will allow patients to receive treatment sooner and ease winter pressures by allowing outbreaks to be contained”.
“GP discretion”
“These antivirals are recommended for treatment of those at highest risk of severe disease outside of the flu season, following a confirmatory test for flu”, as well as in “specific settings such as care homes where confirmed cases of flu have occurred”, the DH said.
When asked whether the rule change will mean pharmacists can supply flu antivirals via a PSD, patient group direction (PGD) or independent prescribing, a DH spokesperson told C+D that GPs will “have the final clinical judgement and discretion”.
“This is for standard prescribing and improved utilisation of community pharmacies, including the potential to use Pharmacy First”, meaning “more options” are available to an integrated care board (ICB) to commission this service, they added.
Read more: DH: ‘No current plans’ to roll out NHS chickenpox jab in pharmacies
Pharmacy minister Stephen Kinnock stressed that as flu can strike all year round, “it doesn’t make sense to restrict doctors and pharmacists from taking action to protect the most vulnerable in their communities”.
This is “exactly the type of change [the government] wanted to see when [it] launched the red tape challenge to bulldoze bureaucracy and prioritise patients over paperwork”, he added.
And UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) consultant epidemiologist for immunisation Dr Jamie Lopez Bernal said that the changes will allow primary care providers and health protection teams to “respond more rapidly with effective treatment”.
Read more: BREAKING: DH imposes ‘unacceptable’ frozen flu jab fee
It comes as the DH told C+D last week that there are no current plans to offer the newly announced “free chickenpox vaccination” in pharmacies.
And CPE last week announced that the DH has decided to freeze the fee for delivery of flu vaccinations in 2025/26 for the seventh season running, labelling the move as “unacceptable”.
