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EEA and Swiss prescriptions
Pharmacists can dis-
pense prescriptions issued by doctors and dentists from
the European Economic Area (EEA)
or
Switzerland
(except prescriptions for controlled drugs in Schedules
1 to 5 or for drugs without a UK marketing authorisa-
tion). Prescriptions should be written in ink or otherwise
so as to be indelible,
should be dated,
should state the
name of
the patient,
should state the address of
the
prescriber,
should
contain
particulars
indicating
whether the prescriber is a doctor or dentist, and should
be signed by the prescriber.
Security and validity of prescriptions
The Coun-
cils of
the British Medical
Association and the Royal
Pharmaceutical Society have issued a joint statement on
the security and validity of prescriptions.
In particular,
prescription forms should:
.
not be left unattended at reception desks;
.
not be left in a car where they may be visible;
and
.
when not in use, be kept in a locked drawer within
the surgery and at home.
Where there is any doubt
about
the authenticity of
a
prescription, the pharmacist should contact the prescri-
ber.
If this is done by telephone,
the number should be
obtained from the directory rather than relying on the
information on the prescription form,
which may be
false.
Patient group direction (PGD)
In most
cases,
the
most
appropriate clinical
care will
be provided on an
individual
basis by a prescriber to a specific individual
patient.
However,
a Patient Group Direction for supply
and administration of
medicines by other
healthcare
professionals can be used where it would benefit patient
care without compromising safety.
A Patient Group Direction is a written direction relating
to the supply and administration (or
administration
only) of a licensed prescription-only medicine by certain
classes
of
healthcare professionals;
the Direction is
signed by a doctor
(or dentist)
and by a pharmacist.
Further
information on Patient
Group Directions
is
available in Health Service Circular
HSC 2000/026
(England),
HDL (2001)
7 (Scotland),
and WHC (2000)
116
(Wales)
and
at
www.nelm.nhs.uk/en/
Communities/NeLM/PGDs.
NICE and Scottish Medicines Consortium
Advice
issued by the National
Institute for Health and Clinical
Excellence (NICE) is included in the BNF when relevant.
The BNF also includes advice issued by the Scottish
Medicines
Consortium (SMC)
when a
medicine
is
restricted or
not
recommended for
use within NHS
Scotland.
If
advice within a NICE Single Technology
Appraisal differs from SMC advice,
the Scottish Execu-
tive expects NHS Boards within NHS Scotland to com-
ply with the SMC advice. Details of the advice together
with updates can be obtained from www.nice.org.uk and
from www.scottishmedicines.org.uk.
4
General guidance
BNF 61
General guidance