Following the meningitis outbreak in Kent, NHSE has informed pharmacies and GPs that the NHS prescription charges for prophylactic oral Ciprofloxacin prescriptions will be waived for “eligible patients”.
Community Pharmacy England (CPE) shared yesterday that the antibiotic will be prescribed free-of-charge to “patients in relation to the outbreak”.
The prescription charge waver “only applies to FS-endorsed oral Ciprofloxacin prescriptions dispensed and collected between March 5 and April 21”, it explained but it noted that “this may be subject to changes as the situation evolves”.
CPE stressed, however, that pharmacy teams “should not issue prescription charge refunds” to those who have already paid, advising that these requests should be “directed to the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA)”.
Read more: Pharmacy sector calls for meningitis jabs after outbreak
According to NHSE, the patients eligible for free supply of oral Ciprofloxacin are:
- All University of Kent students & staff living /working in halls of residence on Canterbury Campus
- All those who attended Club Chemistry between March 5-15
- Sixth forms at schools and colleges where there has been a probable or confirmed case
- Others identified as close contacts for whom prophylaxis is appropriate
“Free supply”
Prescribers in general practices have been asked to “endorse NHS prescriptions for oral Ciprofloxacin with the initials ‘FS’ to facilitate its free supply”, as already happens in relation to scripts issued for treatments used in the management of tuberculosis and sexually transmitted infections, CPE said.
It advised pharmacy teams to supply the antibiotic free-of-charge to patients with the “correctly endorsed” ‘FS’ prescriptions for both paper forms and electronic prescriptions.
“Do not supply oral Ciprofloxacin free-of-charge where the ‘FS’ endorsement is missing or has been incorrectly applied by the prescriber,” it noted.
Read more: Pharmacies face ‘unprecedented’ demand for meningitis jabs
It comes after the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) warned last week that pharmacies are facing “unprecedented” demand for meningitis vaccines in response to the outbreak.
A snap survey by the NPA revealed that 87% of pharmacies have seen “considerable rises in requests from worried parents for meningitis vaccinations, far exceeding supply available from wholesalers”.
Days later, however, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) announced that 20,000 MenB vaccines will be released from NHS supply to “ease” the demand on pharmacies amid the meningitis outbreak.
