Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord O’Shaughnessy on 19 January (HL4501), whether the Answer also applies to the Automated Repeat Prescription Service offered by some high street pharmacies; and what checks there are to ensure that this does not lead to over-ordering.

My Written Answer of 19 January applies also to repeatable prescriptions provided through the Electronic Prescription Service.

Any service provided by a pharmacist including ordering prescriptions on behalf of patients, should be carried out in accordance with their professional code of conduct, ethics and performance and the standards for registered pharmacies – both regulated by the General Pharmaceutical Council. This would include obtaining all the information they require to assess a person’s needs in order to give safe and effective treatment and to obtain consent for professional services they provide.