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Emergency supply of medicines
Emergency supply requested by
member of the public
Pharmacists are sometimes called upon by members of
the public to make an emergency supply of medicines.
The Prescription Only Medicines (Human Use)
Order
1997 allows
exemptions
from the Prescription Only
requirements for emergency supply to be made by a
person lawfully conducting a retail
pharmacy business
provided:
(a)
that
the pharmacist
has
interviewed the person
requesting the prescription-only medicine and is
satisfied:
(i)
that there is immediate need for the prescrip-
tion-only medicine and that it is impracticable
in the circumstances to obtain a prescription
without undue delay;
(ii)
that treatment with the prescription-only med-
icine has
on a previous
occasion been pre-
scribed for the person requesting it;
(iii)
as to the dose that it would be appropriate for
the person to take;
(b)
that no greater quantity shall
be supplied than will
provide 5 days’ treatment of phenobarbital, pheno-
barbital sodium, or Controlled Drugs in Schedules 4
or 5,
1
or 30 days’ treatment for other prescription-
only medicines,
except when the prescription-only
medicine is:
(i)
insulin, an ointment or cream, or a preparation
for the relief of asthma in an aerosol dispenser
when the smallest pack can be supplied;
(ii)
an oral contraceptive when a full cycle may be
supplied;
(iii)
an antibiotic in liquid form for oral administra-
tion
when
the
smallest
quantity
that
will
provide a full
course of treatment can be sup-
plied;
(c)
that an entry shall be made by the pharmacist in the
prescription book stating:
(i)
the date of supply;
(ii)
the name, quantity and, where appropriate, the
pharmaceutical form and strength;
(iii)
the name and address of the patient;
(iv)
the nature of the emergency;
(d)
that the container or package must be labelled to
show:
(i)
the date of supply;
(ii)
the name, quantity and, where appropriate, the
pharmaceutical form and strength;
(iii)
the name of the patient;
(iv)
the name and address of the pharmacy;
(v)
the words ‘Emergency supply’;
(vi)
the words ‘Keep out of the reach of children’ (or
similar warning);
(e)
that
the prescription-only medicine is not
a sub-
stance specifically excluded from the emergency
supply provision, and does not contain a Controlled
Drug specified in Schedules 1, 2, or 3 to the Misuse
of Drugs Regulations 2001 except for phenobarbital
or phenobarbital
sodium for the treatment of
epi-
lepsy:
for details see
Medicines,
Ethics and Prac-
tice
,
No.
34,
London,
Pharmaceutical
Press,
2010
(and subsequent editions as available).
1
Emergency supply requested by
prescriber
Emergency supply of a prescription-only medicine may
also be made at
the request
of
a doctor,
a dentist,
a
supplementary prescriber,
a community practitioner
nurse prescriber,
a nurse,
pharmacist,
or
optometrist
independent prescriber,
or a doctor or dentist from the
European Economic Area or Switzerland,
provided:
(a)
that the pharmacist is satisfied that the prescriber by
reason of
some emergency is unable to furnish a
prescription immediately;
(b)
that
the prescriber
has
undertaken to furnish a
prescription within 72 hours;
(c)
that the medicine is supplied in accordance with the
directions of the prescriber requesting it;
(d)
that the medicine is not a Controlled Drug specified
in Schedules 1,
2,
or
3 to the Misuse of
Drugs
Regulations 2001 except for phenobarbital
or phe-
nobarbital sodium for the treatment of epilepsy: for
details see
Medicines, Ethics and Practice
,
No.
34,
London,
Pharmaceutical
Press,
2010 (and subse-
quent editions as available);
1
(e)
that an entry shall be made in the prescription book
stating:
(i)
the date of supply;
(ii)
the name, quantity and, where appropriate, the
pharmaceutical form and strength;
(iii)
the
name
and
address
of
the
practitioner
requesting the emergency supply;
(iv)
the name and address of the patient;
(v)
the date on the prescription;
(vi)
when the prescription is
received the entry
should be amended to include the date on
which it is received.
Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s
guidelines
1.
The pharmacist should consider the medical
con-
sequences of
not
supplying a medicine in an emer-
gency.
2.
If the pharmacist is unable to make an emergency
supply of a medicine the pharmacist should advise
the patient how to obtain essential medical care.
For
conditions
that
apply to supplies
made at
the
request of a patient see
Medicines, Ethics and Practice
,
No.
34,
London Pharmaceutical
Press,
2010 (and sub-
sequent editions).
1.
Doctors or dentists from the European Economic Area and
Switzerland,
or
their
patients,
cannot
request
an emer-
gency supply of
Controlled Drugs,
or drugs that
do not
have a UK marketing authorisation.
BNF 61
Emergency supply of medicines
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Emergency supply of medicines