“100 Hour “ Pharmacies will not be a threat in the future however, do you feel under threat from a new pharmacy, possibly a “100 Hour”, jointly owned by the GPs in your nearest practice. What are you planning to do to mitigate the risk to your pharmacy’s goodwill? Pharmacy Consulting can help you to develop a new business plan.
Doctors prescribing habits must comply with The GMCs “Good Practice in Prescribing Medicines –guidance for doctors”. Drs must be prepared to explain and justify any decision made contrary to this guidance. Practices should display, a polite notice in their waiting rooms informing patients that they are free to take their prescription, private or NHS, to any pharmacy of their choice. Patients should have access to information regarding the financial and commercial interests in any pharmacy a GP practice are likely to use.
Patients must give their consent to be included in a repeat dispensing scheme; in addition, if their consent was given before ETP, a new consent must be obtained before sending the patients repeat prescription electronically. If a community pharmacy is under threat from any new pharmacy opening, they must be vigilant about consenting their patients to prevent the new pharmacy poaching them. There is no reason why a surgery cannot write to all their patients telling them they are updating their records and checking which chemist the patients want to nominate. They would have to list all the local pharmacies, however the new” In Practice Pharmacy” would be there as a choice.
A neighbouring pharmacy could complain that their prescription is being poached by the new pharmacy, owned or not by the prescribers; both pharmacist and prescribers could be challenged.
However if patients have consented to the nomination there is nothing that can be done.
It could be that more monthly prescriptions are written, this would be a good outcome as it can help to curb wastage, especially in conjunction with the New Medicine Service (NMS), and this would benefit all pharmacies. A prescriber may feel less likely to resist the pressure put on them by a patient who demands a prescription when the medication is not required, if there is a dispensing fee, or the share of one at the end of the process, this also could benefit all pharmacies.
Auditing prescribing habits of doctors when they have financial interests or own their own pharmacy or comparison between NHS and private patient prescribing practice, would be interesting. Could private patients who do not have in-depth knowledge, be vulnerable at the hands of an unethical prescriber who might see £££ especially if the private prescription may end up dispensed in their pharmacy.
In the United States, there are limited scenarios where a physician may legally own or refer to a pharmacy. Federal anti-kickback statute prohibits, amongst other conduct, the payment of remuneration in exchange for, among other things, the prescribing of items or services, including pharmaceuticals, covered by a Federal Health Care Program.
Make time to lock in your patient and call Pharmacy Consulting if you need our advice and or support.