The Care Quality Commission has cracked down on potentially unsafe online prescribers that fail to carry out adequate identity checks or to review a patient’s medical history.
One service has been suspended after prescribing drugs after a 17 second assessment.
The Royal College of GPs backed the enforcement action, saying prescription medicines could not be handed out ‘like sweets’.
On Thursday, the CQC announced it was taking regulatory action and using its urgent enforcement powers to suspend registrations or impose conditions on four online prescribers.
The healthcare regulator said the issues with the online primary care services included insufficient identity checks, inappropriate prescriptions and poor recording of medical history.
One service, Doctor Matt Ltd, has had its registration suspended until the end of June as it was issuing prescriptions after reviewing patient questionnaires for just 17 seconds.
Another, White Pharmacy Ltd, had conditions placed on it by the CQC after it was found to be prescribing opioid-based medicine without proper patient identification systems.
The regulator said I-GP Ltd must improve how it verifies patient identity.
A fourth service, Frosts Pharmacy Ltd, was issued with warning notices after prescribing large quantities of asthma inhalers without adequate checks on the patient’s condition.
Helen Stokes-Lampard, chair of the Royal College of GPs, responded to the news in a statement, saying: “We cannot tolerate a laissez faire attitude towards dispensing of prescription medication; they are not sweets”.
She said the CQC are “absolutely right to take a hard line against this”.
A CQC spokesman said there were 47 online prescribers registered with the regulator, and inspections will occur on all within three to six months.
The regulator published its first inspection reports into such providers in early March. These led to HR Healthcare Ltd being suspended, and MD Direct voluntarily cancelling its registration.
Gerald Heddell, director of inspection, enforcement and standards at the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), said that a proper consultation with a medical professional is essential before prescribing.
“We are checking the websites of providers subject to CQC action to ensure that they are compliant with the requirements of medicines legislation. Online suppliers that are not operating within the legal framework will have the logo withdrawn.”
Heddell said the MHRA was working closely with the CQC and General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) to protect patients.
A GPhC spokesperson said: “We are carrying out inspections to ensure that pharmacies linked to online prescribers are meeting standards and are highlighting any areas where they need to improve.”
Steve Field, the CQC’s chief inspector of general practice, said in a statement that the same standards must be met online as in traditional GP settings.
“It is understandable that people want convenient access to advice and medicines, but it is important that providers do not compromise on patient safety.”
10 April 2017 @ 11:30
Its not just about cheap drugs, its also to do with expensive ones. My local GP pharmacy refused to fulfil my perscriptions and blamed everything except the real reason of cost. I used an online pharmacy to prove that cost was the real issue. I now get my meds from my Consultant in hospital on a monthly basis, to the additional cost of a consultation appointment and the pharmacy. Its crackers!
7 April 2017 @ 22:00
IMHO It is not so much the failure of the NHS to modernise that has led to online doctor prescribing as the a combination of long waiting times for GP consultations and patients prepared to misuse medicines.
Almost all GPs and pharmacies use ETP so prescriptions can be sent electronically and almost all pharmacies can deliver.
10 April 2017 @ 14:43
Overall quality of GP services certainly compounds the problem but again if I can get a 5 minute online consultation and my GP can’t use email/phone nevermind skype it’s all part of the same problem. GP services are out of touch.
7 April 2017 @ 13:39
This is just another example of how the NHS failure to modernise is driving demand on the high street. The problem for me is the NHS / GPs know nothing of these services. I can buy my NHS prescription for less online and delivered to my door. So do I do this or go to my GP fill in a form, collect it, take it to the pharmacy who then may have to order it and collect it?
6 April 2017 @ 21:24
Patients need to be informed and understand that the convenience of online prescriptions from a pharmacist who does not know their GP and does not have access to their NHS clinical records is not likely to be as safe as the traditional way of obtaining medications particularly if they are prescription only medications.