This news might help some members - assuming it goes ahead:
Pharmacists will be permitted to hand out a raft of controlled drugs without prescription, including potentially addictive painkillers, under a proposed move to alleviate pressure on the NHS during the coronavirus outbreak.
The home secretary, Priti Patel, has written to the government’s official drug tsars asking them for advice on the risks of lifting restrictions on certain substances controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act.
The emergency changes proposed would allow pharmacists to hand out these substances without prescription.
Some of the substances are highly addictive and include barbiturates and opiates, such as morphine.
However, it will only apply only to patients who have been receiving the drug as part of ongoing treatment.
In her letter to the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, the home secretary asks the panel to consider the “risks of making these changes related to greater access to controlled drugs and risk of diversion or misuse which have been taken into account in developing the measures”.
She has requested the council respond by Friday as the government wishes to lay regulations as soon as possible.
In addition, the Home Office wants to apply a measure called a supply shortage protocol to certain controlled drugs, which would allow pharmacists to hand out alternatives without having to go back to doctors in the event that the prescribed drug is running low as there is a “significant risk” to supply due to the crisis.
Patel writes:
These measures help secure access to controlled drugs within the healthcare system in a pandemic and where there is a serious risk to human health. They will ensure patients continue to have access to medicines critical for ongoing treatment, build resilience and help relieve pressure elsewhere in the health system.
I’ve just asked my Endo ( private ) for another prescription for NDT as I fear another shortage with not only Brexit ( could affect it around December ) but now #Covid-19 - yet he only gave me 4 months ! Which is worrying me - I need it for life ! Even The Pharmacist was surprised - what are the rules they have to abide by for prescribing ? If I need it I need it ! They dole out Levothyroxine like sweeties !
AvidReader, yet he only gave me 4 months ! They dole out Levothyroxine like sweeties !
We rarely see anyone in the UK being 'doled out' levothyroxine like sweeties. Many have a fight to get prescribed the dose they need, and most are refused more than one or two months supply at a time. So by comparison, you are quite fortunate not only to be prescribed NDT, but to also be able to get enough for four months. In an ideal world, we, the patients would have far more say in our thyroid medication regime, but this is far from being an ideal world even at the best of times, let alone in pandemic times.
I was on levo for 25 years & had it in abundance, stacked up in drawers, as did my Mum.. I've been on NDT 3 years now, so maybe things with levo have been tightened up? If we need it to live (in my case T3 - NDT) then why are we having to fight for it ?
Please don't take this the wrong way? I was on Levo for 25 years- My GP was the one that said they dole Levo out like sweets & that everyone is on it... A few years back . My comment is not to make you on Levo feel upset.. It is to highlight the fact that we (thyroid patients- whatever medicine we need to take) should not be worrying about running out. No insults intended..
No I’m sure none was intended.. I was a bit too quick of the mark and I should apologise. Lost my mother a month ago to bone and lung cancer. I’m in a Fybro flare up at moment and my moods are erratic. Again I’m sorry. 😊
Very well they did that! Because of some people stockpiling medication there is not enough for others! I just went 2 weeks without medication because I couldn’t get hold of my NDT anywhere. Consider that others need it for life as well! I have a small child to look after and I got so unwell in those two weeks I was fainting and couldn’t look after him.
I’m very concerned about shortages of NDT around December due to Brexit & with now this #Covid19 - we are all concerned about medication - I just wish some doctors would understand & make sure we have our medication. -
That’s understandable, we are all concerned, especially those on NDT as it’s such an ordeal to get it. But stockpiling is not the answer. If we all bought regular amount we require there would be no shortage. The shortage is caused by those fulfilling few months worth of prescriptions at once. Supply chain was not prepared for that and there is not enough. Some have to go without because of that and it’s just not on.
NDT is a blacklisted "drug" (hormone), not a controlled "drug", so hardly likely that a pharmacist would give it without a prescription.
isn't it crazy? I do kmow tht some people even get NDT on NHS !!! Thanks for the answer _ yes it's a constant worry - Whereas I used to be able to have some Levothyroxine in my handbag, at my mum's, in the kitchen in bedside drawer... etc just incase I went somewhere without it !
I wish they would do this for all medications. I think once a doctors has prescribed there should be no need to keep going back to the doctor for more prescriptions. You have been diagnosed and a treatment prescribed the pharmacist is much better qualified to review and advise re side effects of medication. I have had huge problems over the years with clever clogs doctors refusing to prescribe me previously very effective medication on some whim. I would very much like to be able to just go to a pharmacist have a chat and ask for a previously prescribed medication.
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