GPs will no longer have to handwrite prescriptions for controlled drugs as a result of amendments to the Misuse of Drugs Regulations which come into force next week.
From 14 November, prescriptions for controlled drugs can be produced using typing and printing, ending a restriction which has been viewed as anachronistic since the widespread adoption of computer–generated prescriptions for all other medicines in the early 1990s.
The statutory instrument laid down by the Home Office drops the requirement for prescribers to handwrite prescriptions for controlled drugs and also means registers of stock and administration can be kept in computerised form.
The change has been welcomed by GPs and pharmacists. Dr Adrian Midgley, a GP in Exeter, Devon, who found the statutory instrument online last week said he was delighted by the change.
He added: "I’ve called for it on several occasions and one at least one occasion I have drawn an official’s attention to the nonsense of having the most dangerous drugs prescribed in the way most likely to cause errors."
Steve Lutner, head of regulation at the Pharmaceutical Services Negiotiating Committee, told EHI Primary Care that the changes should enhance patient care.
He added: "This amendment will lower the burden on prescribers, and will also remove the difficulty that could have occurred if prescribers had erroneously issued printed prescriptions for controlled drugs."
It has been Home Office policy to scrap the need to handwrite prescriptions for controlled drugs for more than a year. The requirement to handwrite prescriptions for controlled drugs was also considered by the Shipman enquiry.
Dame Janet Smith, chairman of the enquiry, acknowledged the potential advantages of switching from handwritten prescriptions in her report in 2004 but recommended that the government should first run pilot schemes to ensure that arrangements for computer generation of controlled drug prescriptions were sufficiently secure.
Lynsey Balmer, head of professional ethics, Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB), told EHI Primary Care: "The RPSGB believes that printed prescriptions for controlled drugs will reduce the chance of controlled drug prescriptions being altered or forged, reduce the number of technical errors in prescriptions and improve patient safety by reducing the likelihood of the prescription being misread."
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