Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Medicine and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency accepts medical correspondence from GPs or consultants about a patient's medical condition with a Yellow Card report.

Any healthcare professional, including general practitioners (GPs) and consultants, can report an Adverse Drug Reaction (ADR) report concerning a patient via the Yellow Card Scheme (YCS). There are a number of different reporting options available to healthcare professionals, which include the Yellow Card website, Yellow Card app, paper forms that can be sent in via free post, and the Yellow Card free phone. Furthermore, in some clinical settings, integrated IT systems are in place for ADR reporting. This allows healthcare professionals to submit Yellow Cards electronically by populating information from the patient’s electronic health record, including relevant information about their medical condition.

Patients are given the opportunity to provide contact details for their GP or consultant when reporting directly to the YCS. If they choose to provide these details, permission is requested to advise the healthcare professional of the ADR report and/or to follow up for additional information directly with the healthcare professional. If permission is granted, a copy of the report will be sent to the healthcare professional, who can then provide further information on the patient’s medical condition if they wish. When requesting follow-up, the healthcare professional will be prompted as to what information is of interest for the further assessment of the report. Where patients have not provided details or permission to contact a healthcare professional, any further information required concerning the ADR report will be requested from the patient.