Week 25: Prescription Only Medicines (POMs) Lecture Quiz

Any medicine listed in the POM Order

Appropriate practitioners

In the POM Order or marketing authorization

Medicine name and quantity dispensed

When a prescription is dispensed

The pharmacist should contact the prescriber for validation

Name and address of the pharmacy and date of dispensing

2 years

Keep at the pharmacy for 2 years

Inform the prescriber and contact the police if necessary

Hand Rx back to patient or offer to retain at the pharmacy

To transcribe and check by a pharmacist

A signed original copy

Date and original reference number of the first supply

Send to NHS Business Services Authority at the end of the month

With all particulars and adequate backups

Date of sale or supply, name, quantity, pharmaceutical form, strength, date on Rx, name and address of practitioner giving Rx, name and address of person for whom medicine prescribed, and a reference number.

The practitioner issuing the prescription must be registered in the UK or an approved health professional in an approved country

6 months from the appropriate date

A uniquely linked signature to the person giving the prescription, capable of identifying the signatory, and created using means that the signatory can maintain under his/her control

The signature of the prescriber must be uniquely linked to the signatory and to the data which it relates to

There are no restrictions on what can be prescribed on private prescriptions

Any 'appropriate practitioner'

A medicine listed in the POM Order or with a marketing authorisation as POM

Prescriptions must be issued by a registered practitioner

Receiving the medicine as part of a clinical trial

In the POM Order or the medicine's marketing authorisation

Details of the medicine dispensed and the prescriber

Registered medical practitioners, dentists, and non-medical prescribers

The final repeat pharmacy may retain the prescription

Date of sale or supply, name, and quantity of the medicine

Keep it at the pharmacy for 2 years

Keep it at the pharmacy for 2 years

Having a facility for inspectors to examine without disrupting the dispensing process

Digital signature from the prescriber

Legal validity issues

(Doctors) Practitioners and independent prescribers

Transposition done by a pharmacist or checked by a pharmacist

On the same day as the sale or supply

Reference number from previous supply must be included

2 years

6 months

Community Practitioner Nurse

It must be canceled by the GP

Encrypting the records for security

Inability to detect changes made after signing

Containing particulars like address of the appropriate practitioner and indication of the kind of appropriate practitioner giving it

Only when a controlled drug is dispensed

'Uniquely linked to the person giving the Rx' and 'Capable of identifying the signatory'

Details of controlled drugs supplied and/or administered

Community Practitioner Nurse

They must bear an advanced electronic signature and maintain data integrity.

The number of repeats remaining.

Legally defined as a medicine listed in the POM Order or if the medicine’s marketing authorisation lists the classification as POM

The legal classification of a POM can be found in the POM Order or in the medicine’s marketing authorisation

When a pharmacist suspects a prescription is a forgery, they should not dispense the medicine and should inform the prescriber and the police

Authorized practitioners, such as doctors, dentists, and nurse independent prescribers, are authorized to prescribe POMs

The details to be recorded in the POM register include the date of the supply, the name and address of the patient, the prescriber’s name, and the name, quantity, and form of the medicine supplied

For second and subsequent supplies on a repeat prescription, the date of the supply and the quantity of the medicine supplied should be recorded

A written instruction from a prescriber for a medicine to be supplied or administered to a named patient after the prescriber has assessed the patient on an individual basis.

Repeatable prescriptions must be dispensed for the first time within 6 months of the appropriate date and in accordance with directions contained on the prescription. Repeatable prescriptions that do not specify the number of repeats may be repeated only once, unless it is a prescription for an oral contraceptive, in which case it can be dispensed a total of six times (i.e., 5 repeats).

Medicines must be supplied fully to the patient within the legal validity of the prescription. If unable to supply the full quantity, an owing slip for the remainder should be given to the patient, and the remainder must be collected by the patient within the legal validity of the prescription.

The medicine must be dispensed exactly as it is written on the Rx in terms of form, strength, dose, frequency, and quantity. If a medicine is prescribed by brand name, only this branded product may be dispensed. A therapeutically equivalent generic product must not be dispensed, and an alternative brand must not be dispensed.

Doctor (‘registered medical practitioner’), Dentist, Community Practitioner Nurse Prescribers, Supplementary prescribers, Nurse independent prescriber, Pharmacist independent prescriber, Optometrist independent prescriber, Physiotherapist independent prescriber, Podiatrist independent prescriber, Therapeutic Radiographer independent prescriber, Paramedic independent prescriber.

Electronic prescriptions must be signed with ‘an advanced electronic signature’ and sent electronically to the person who is dispensing it (whether through one or more intermediaries).

An 'advanced electronic signature' means it must be uniquely linked to the person giving the Rx, capable of identifying the signatory, created using means that the signatory can maintain under his/her control, and linked to the data to which it relates in such a way that any subsequent change of the data is detectable.

Private prescriptions follow the same legal requirements as NHS prescriptions, can be written on anything, and can be written by any ‘appropriate practitioner’. There are no restrictions on what can be prescribed (so long as the prescriber is competent to do so).

A repeatable prescription allows for multiple dispensing, and the number of repeats will be specified on the prescription. There is no legal limit on the number of times a prescriber may request it to be repeated.

NHS electronic prescriptions are sent from the prescriber to the pharmacy via the NHS spine, and the pharmacy prints out the electronic prescription on a ‘dispensing token’. Undispensed tokens or tokens containing any prescribing errors can be sent back to the NHS spine for cancellation by the GP.

Private prescriptions can be written on anything, can be repeated, and the date on private prescriptions is the date when it was signed. Like any Rx, it must be satisfied it’s genuine.

Repeatable prescriptions must be dispensed for the first time within 6 months of the appropriate date, and repeatable prescriptions that do not specify the number of repeats may be repeated only once, unless it is a prescription for an oral contraceptive, in which case it can be dispensed a total of six times (i.e., 5 repeats).

Keep at the pharmacy for 2 years

Date of sale or supply, Name, quantity, pharmaceutical form and strength, Date on Rx, Name and address of practitioner, Name and address of person for whom medicine prescribed, Reference number

Keep at the pharmacy for 2 years

The signed original copy

Contact the NHS Counter Fraud Service and possibly the police, and inform the prescriber

Ensuring all particulars, adequate backups, and a facility for inspectors to examine them without disrupting the dispensing process

Medicine which is subject to legal control as to the manner in which it is distributed, supplied, and sold

An electronic signature that is uniquely linked to the signatory, capable of identifying the signatory, created using means that the signatory can maintain under their sole control, and linked to the data to which it relates in such a manner that any subsequent change of the data is detectable

A record must be made of every supply of a POM unless exempt, and details such as date, name, quantity, pharmaceutical form and strength, practitioner details, and reference number must be recorded

The transposition should be made by a pharmacist or checked by a pharmacist

All particulars, adequate backups, and a facility for inspectors to examine them without disrupting the dispensing process

Details such as date of sale or supply, name, quantity, pharmaceutical form and strength, date on Rx, name and address of practitioner, name and address of person for whom medicine prescribed, and reference number