Week 7 sale and supply of medicine POM

Question 1

Prescription-only medicines (POM)

Answer 1

In general, prescription-only medicines are used for conditions that are best diagnosed and managed by health professionals

Question 2

Generics

Answer 2

If a medicinal product is prescribed by reference to its brand name, only the product bearing that brand name may be supplied; a therapeutically equivalent generic product may not be supplied instead

Question 3

Who can prescribe?

Answer 3

-Doctors
-Dentists
* Community practitioner nurse prescribers
-Pharmacist independent prescribers
-Physiotherapists independent prescribers
-Chiropodists/Podiatrists independent prescribers
-Nurse independent prescribers
-Independent therapeutic radiographer prescribers
-Optometrist independent prescribers
-Paramedic independent prescribers
-Supplementary prescribers

Question 4

What can be prescribed?

Answer 4

-Licensed drugs (POMs, Ps, GSLs, foods, toiletries or cosmetics)
-Off label and off licence medicines
-Unlicensed medicines
-Controlled Drugs (CDs) – Year 2
-Some appliances or chemical reagents
-Selected List Scheme medicines (SLS)
-Borderline Substances (ACBS)

Question 5

Who pays for it?

Answer 5

-Drug Tariff is a tariff of drug prices
-Price paid to a pharmacy
-Prescription becomes an invoice
-Sent away to NHS for payment

Question 6

The Drug Tariff

Answer 6

It defines a limited list of allowable items which may be prescribed by dentists and nurses using NHS prescriptions.
->It defines the list of items only to be prescribed under certain
conditions, items NOT to be prescribed on an NHS prescription.
->There are separate Drug Tariffs for Scotland and Northern Ireland

Question 7

Assessing a Prescription

Answer 7

-Nature of product
-Prescriber type
-Dental or Nurse Prescribers’ formulary
-Form type
-Prescriber endorsements

Question 8

Nature of product

Answer 8

Is the drug permitted on the NHS or is the
appliance listed in the Drug Tariff?

Question 9

Prescriber type

Answer 9

Does the prescriber hold relevant registration(s) to
issue prescriptions for the requested items?

Question 10

Dental or Nurse Prescribers’ formulary

Answer 10

Are the prescribed items
listed in the relevant prescriber’s formulary?

Question 11

Form type

Answer 11

Is the product prescribed on a valid NHS prescription?

Question 12

Prescriber endorsements

Answer 12

Has the prescriber annotated the prescription with the correct endorsements?

Question 13

SLS

Answer 13

Selected List Scheme. It’s a list of drugs, medicines, and other substances that can only be prescribed under certain conditions
The prescriber must endorse the prescription with the term ‘SLS’

Question 14

The blacklist

Answer 14

Items not permitted on NHS prescriptions
Key information in the BNF

Question 15

Prescribing power

Answer 15

-Doctors can prescribe any licenced drug
-Dentists can only prescribe within the Dental Practitioners’ Formulary
-Community Practitioners Nurses prescribers can only prescribe within the Nurse Prescribers’ Formulary

Question 16

Formularies

Answer 16

A formulary is a list of medicines that are available for prescribers in a pharmacy department
Formularies are used to help healthcare professionals make decisions about which medicines to use for patients

Question 17

Independent and supplementary prescribers

Answer 17

Independent prescribers and supplementary prescribers can also prescribe any licenced drug
However,
-Independent Prescribers must work within their own level of professional competence and expertise
-Supplementary prescribers must work is a partnership with an independent prescriber (a doctor or a dentist) to implement an agreed Clinical
Management Plan for an individual patient with that patient’s agreement

Question 18

Approved country health
professionals (EEA and Switzerland)

Answer 18

Prescriptions issued by an approved health professional registered in an approved country are legally acceptable in the UK
-Approved health professionals include doctors and dentists (as well as other professions with prescribing rights)
-Approved countries include EEA countries and Switzerland

Question 19

The Advisory Committee on
Borderline Substances (ACBS)

Answer 19

Borderline substances include certain foods and toilet preparations
he prescriber should endorse the prescription specifically with the term ‘ACBS’

Question 20

A prescription must be…

Answer 20

-Signed in ink
-Written in ink or indelible
-Dispensed within six months (beginning with the appropriate date)

Question 21

Electronic transfer of prescriptions

Answer 21

‘2DRx’ stands for 2-Dimensional Barcoded (2D) Prescriptions (Rx)
->In England, information is connected from GPs and community pharmacies to a central store of English patients’ information, known as ‘the Spine’

Question 22

Legal requirements

Answer 22

-Name of the patient
-Address of the patient
-Age of the patient (if under 12)
-Signature
-Date
-Address
-Particulars

Question 23

Forged prescriptions

Answer 23

Unknown prescriber
New patient
Excessive quantities
Uncharacteristic prescribing or method of writing prescription by a known doctor
“Dr” before or after prescriber’s signature

Question 24

Endorsements

Answer 24

Stamp with pharmacy stamp to indicate completion

Question 25

Getting paid

Answer 25

Submission of endorsed prescriptions to NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership monthly
->WP34 form
Based on drug tariff prices

Question 26

Handing out prescriptions

Answer 26

It is generally taken for granted that a representative of a patient is entitled to receive medication on behalf of the patient, but the supply to a patient’s representative is only lawful because the patient’s
representative is an agent of the patient