The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) has called for “stronger safeguards in private prescribing” in its response to the Department of Health and Social Care’s (DH) call for evidence on “private non-NHS prescribing” in the UK.
Published this week (November 3), the RPS submission highlighted a number of concerns with current private prescribing practice and set out a list of recommendations to address them.
Read more: DH launches investigation into private prescribing ‘safety’
“Information sharing between independent online services and NHS care is inconsistent,” it said, arguing that as private prescribing data is “not shared and seems difficult to obtain”, it “sometimes doesn’t feel like safe practice”.
There must be “better” data sharing between private providers and the NHS - and vice versa - to ensure all information about a patient’s medicine is “available in one place” and can “be seen”, it stressed.
The RPS noted that there is also a need to “keep workload and responsibility entirely with the private prescriber”, suggesting that this can be done if “systems are better set up to share information”.
“Inconsistency” in ad regulations
The body also argued that regulation should “be made clearer”, explaining that there is “some confusion as to how private providers are regulated, who regulates each service and who has governance responsibilities in terms of the clinical appropriateness of the medicines”.
It noted that as online private providers become “more commonplace”, “additional regulatory regimes” may be needed in this area as well.
And in terms of medicines advertising, the RPS said that while it is “generally effectively regulated”, there is a “level of inconsistency on what is allowed to be advertised in terms of online services”, including the prescribing of individual medicines.
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The RPS also raised concerns that:
- Private prescribing may have “an impact” on medicines shortages at a local or national level although it is “difficult to assess” this as data is not “readily available”
- It can “widen health inequalities” for those from “more deprived backgrounds”, particularly when accessing attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) drugs
- Private prescribing training is “uneven”, the standards are “very variable” and “much more work is required” so that more training and education is available
- The “continued presence” of the illicit online supply of medicines “risks confusing patients about legitimate private routes”
- European Economic Area (EEA) prescribers “sit outside” of UK regulations so medicines dispensed in the UK from these prescribers may not undergo the same “quality improvement”
- There must be “assurance” that private patient group directions (PGDs) are “following the most recent National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines”
“Protect patients”
To address all these concerns, the RPS said that regulators should be able to “clearly link healthcare professionals, companies and platforms across systems” to facilitate “joined-up identity checks” and to help “spot and prevent rule-breaking”.
And it added that a “fair and proportionate system is needed to track the results and any harms from private healthcare”, including EEA prescriptions that are “dispensed in the UK”.
RPS president Professor Claire Anderson stressed that “patient safety must come first, no matter where or how care is delivered”, adding that “stronger safeguards, clearer responsibilities and better data sharing” are needed to “protect patients”.
Read more: NHSE to ‘consult’ with CPE on national prescribing service
It comes after the DH launched an investigation into “private non-NHS” prescribing in the UK in August to help ensure the system “continuously” supports patients and remains “fit for purpose”.
Meanwhile, NHS England (NHSE) last week announced that it will consult with the pharmacy negotiator on a national community pharmacy prescribing service from next April.
