The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) today (February 7) welcomed the Department of Health and Social Care’s (DH) suggestion for more medicine reclassification applications from POMs to “available in a pharmacy (P)”.
It said that the move would “improve opportunities for self care and enable more timely and convenient access to medicines”.
Read more: MHRA: Reclassification Alliance relaunch will ‘open doors’ for POM to P switches
It comes after the DH this week (February 5) published “a list of medical conditions and categories” it is encouraging reclassification applications be submitted to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
The list identified six broad health conditions – allergies, pain, skin problems, digestive disorders, women’s health, and oral health.
“Better” patient access
Increasing the number of reclassifications in these areas “will give more patients better access to much-needed medicines,” the DH said, but it also stressed that the MHRA “will not consider any applications for medicines that include opioids or antibiotics”.
“This announcement provides no guarantee that applications for reclassification...will be approved by the MHRA,” the DH added.
“The MHRA will assess each medicine product individually and will only grant reclassification if it [is] considered safe and appropriate,” it said.
Read more: Greater use of OTC drugs could save NHS £3.1bn per year, report claims
RPS president Professor Claire Anderson said that “enabling POM to P switches has a critical role to play in managing demand in primary care”.
“It helps minimise unnecessary GP appointments and A&E attendances for minor conditions and ensures the public get the treatment they need from community pharmacies,” she added.
“Diagnosing and discussing health problems with patients and advising on the benefits and risks of treatment options are integral to the role of the pharmacy team,” she said.
“Millions to benefit”
And the PAGB also shared their support for the DH announcement, noting that “millions [are] set to benefit” if the suggested reclassification applications are approved.
PAGB chief executive Michelle Riddalls said that “widening access to medicines through reclassification forms a key pillar in the work that we are doing to build a sustainable healthcare service fit for the future”.
“Beyond the benefits to the individual, it is also estimated that if future reclassifications reduced NHS prescribing levels and spending by just 5%, it could save the NHS £1.4 billion per year in prescription and appointment costs,” she added.
Read more: Half of pharmacies shun ‘unlikely-to-sell’ P contraceptives, research finds
Meanwhile, drug manufacturer Maxwellia told C+D in May that it has positioned itself as a “switching machine”, focusing on the reclassification of medicines to make them available without a prescription.
“There’s still a huge catalogue of prescription medicines that we can convert into products for self-care,” Maxwellia chief executive Anna Maxwell said at the time.
