Emergency Supply of Medicines

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:

1. that the pharmacist has interviewed the person requesting the prescription-only medicine and is satisfied:

   1. that there is immediate need for the prescription-only medicine and that it is impracticable in the circumstances to obtain a prescription without undue delay;

   2. that treatment with the prescription-only medicine has on a previous occasion been prescribed by a doctor,⁽¹⁾ a supplementary prescriber, a community practitioner nurse prescriber (formerly a district nurse or health visitor prescriber), a pharmacist independent prescriber, or a nurse independent prescriber, for the person requesting it;

   3. as to the dose which it would be appropriate for the person to take;

2. that no greater quantity shall be supplied than will provide 5 days' treatment except when the prescription-only medicine is:

   1. insulin, an ointment or cream, or a preparation for the relief of asthma in an aerosol dispenser when the smallest pack can be supplied;

   2. an oral contraceptive when a full cycle may be supplied;

   3. an antibiotic in liquid form for oral administration when the smallest quantity that will provide a full course of treatment can be supplied;

3. that an entry shall be made by the pharmacist in the prescription book stating:

   1. the date of supply;

   2. the name, quantity and, where appropriate, the pharmaceutical form and strength;

   3. the name and address of the patient;

   4. the nature of the emergency;

4. that the container or package must be labelled to show:

   1. the date of supply;

   2. the name, quantity and, where appropriate, the pharmaceutical form and strength;

   3. the name of the patient;

   4. the name and address of the pharmacy;

   5. the words ‘Emergency supply’;

   6. the words ‘Keep out of the reach of children’ (or similar warning);

5. that the prescription-only medicine is not a substance 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 epilepsy: for details see Medicines, Ethics and Practice, No. 30, London, Pharmaceutical Press, 2006 (and subsequent editions as available).