Your Rights When Prescriptions Are Unavailable

What an NHS Pharmacy Must Do

The terms of service for NHS pharmacies in England are set out in Schedule 4 to the NHS (Pharmaceutical and Local Pharmaceutical Services) Regulations 2013. Among them:

• The pharmacy must supply what your prescription orders "with reasonable promptness" (paragraph 5)
• If a Serious Shortage Protocol covers your medicine, the pharmacy must consider whether supplying under the protocol instead is reasonable and appropriate (paragraph 5A)
• If the protocol isn't appropriate for you and the pharmacy refuses because it can't supply your medicine within a reasonable time, it must give you advice, as necessary, about going back to your prescriber to review your treatment (paragraph 9)

Emergency Supply

Under UK law, pharmacists can provide an emergency supply of most prescription-only medicines without a prescription, provided:

• You've been prescribed the medicine before
• The pharmacist is satisfied it's needed immediately and that you can't get a prescription without undue delay
• The pharmacist can work out the right dose for you
• It's not a controlled drug in Schedule 1, 2 or 3, such as an ADHD stimulant, a strong opioid, pregabalin or gabapentin. Phenobarbital for epilepsy is the only exception, and the rule does not change if your GP asks the pharmacy for you (controlled drugs and emergency supply)
• When you ask yourself, up to 30 days' supply can be provided for most medicines, or up to 5 days for a controlled drug in Schedule 4 or 5 (regulation 225)

Serious Shortage Protocols

When an SSP is active, your pharmacist can supply what that protocol allows (a specified alternative, or for some protocols only a limited quantity) without contacting your GP. In England, a supply under a protocol never costs more in prescription charges than your prescription would have, and if the protocol means you get a smaller quantity than was prescribed, there is no charge for it (regulation 13A of the NHS (Charges for Drugs and Appliances) Regulations 2015). Prescriptions are free in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

GP Alternatives

Your GP can prescribe an alternative if your usual medication is unavailable and a suitable one exists for you. If it is a medicine you cannot safely go without, say so when you contact the practice.

Complaints

If you feel you've been poorly served, in England you can complain to:

• The pharmacy itself: ask for its complaints procedure, or write to its superintendent pharmacist
• Your local integrated care board (ICB), which handles complaints about NHS pharmacy services
• The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, if your complaint isn't resolved at the end of the NHS complaints process

You can also raise a concern about a pharmacist's or pharmacy's standards with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC), and your local Healthwatch can tell you who provides free NHS complaints advocacy in your area.