The core use of the Independent Prescribing qualification in the Community Pharmacy setting will be for the management of acute common clinical conditions, which is beyond the scope of the standard NHS Pharmacy First Scotland service, and would otherwise require onward referral to another healthcare professional.
As stipulated in the PCA (P)(2020) 16, the pharmacist should ensure they have completed the following;
Community Pharmacy Independent Prescribers can apply for a unique prescribing number by completing Section A of PHS P3 form & return to Community Pharmacy Prescribing Team for healthboard approval. On receipt of the prescriber number, NHS Lothian Pharmacy administration team will complete a GP10 application form on behalf of the prescriber & order 4x prescription pads. It will take approximately 8 weeks for prescription pads to arrive at McKinnon House, Royal Edinburgh Hospital. You will be notified when your prescription pads are available and you must arrange a time to attend collection. A signature will be required on collection.
If you have not been notified to collect your prescription pads within 10 weeks, you must contact the Community Pharmacy Prescribing Team, for further investigation. Community Pharmacists may not use generic prescription pads, they can only prescribe on their own annotated pads and cannot sign up to deliver the Pharmacy First Plus service until receipt of a prescription pad.
The safety of prescribing pads is the responsibility of each individual practitioner and pads are required to be kept in a secure locked location with limited access. Guidance on the security of prescribing pads can be accessed here . You may be asked for the prescription pad serial numbers if they were to go missing. This helps in ensuring the safety of your pads and in the prevention of theft or fraud. Please note it is the responsibility of the individual practitioner to keep the serial number of prescribing pads up to date.
If you leave the healthboard, you must inform the Community Pharmacy Prescribing Team and return all prescribing pads to the healthboard for destruction. You must also complete Annex C – Self Declaration form for Pharmacy First Plus Withdrawal – within the PCA(P)(2020)16.
If you prescribing pads are missing, lost, or stolen this must be reported to the Community Pharmacy Prescribing Team using the reporting lost, stolen pads form. If prescribing pads are stolen this must be reported to the police.
The GPhC Framework for Pharmacist Prescribers provides pharmacist prescribers with guidance on how they should apply the GPhC standards when prescribing.
If you are unsure of anything or require any assistance at all, please contact;
Admin.RehPharmacy@nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk
OR