Nomination of patients (EPS): ARE YOU FOLLOWING THE RULES?
We have recently been informed that some pharmacy contractors are changing patients nominated pharmacies without patient awareness or consent which has prompted investigation by the ICB and this reminder from the LPC.
It is a professional requirement that Consent MUST be obtained from a patient or their representative before a nomination setting is changed. A pharmacy contractor is not able to provide consent on behalf of a patient nominating their pharmacy.
The Code of Ethics states that pharmacists must obtain consent for the professional services, treatment or care they provide and the patient information they use.
The RPSGB document, ‘Professional Standards and Guidance for the Sale and Supply of Medicines’ contains standards for prescription collection services and the RPSGB document, ‘Professional Standards and Guidance for Patient Consent’ details more general requirements on collecting consent from patients for the provision of services, including guidance on providing sufficient information and presenting this to patients. Failure to adhere to these standards could form the basis of a complaint of professional misconduct.
Pharmacies must have ‘local accountable auditable processes’ for obtaining explicit consent from the patient or their representative before changing a patient’s nomination settings.
Whilst it is not mandatory for a pharmacy to collect a patient signature to confirm consent, this has been recommended by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society. The collection of a signature will support the pharmacy by providing an audit trail in the event that a complaint is made about the pharmacy’s use of the service.
Note, if the patient chooses to change their nomination setting at another pharmacy, the original nominated pharmacy will not be alerted to this.
For further information regarding Nomination of Patients, please see: Nomination of patients (EPS) – Community Pharmacy England
Please see briefing paper regarding EPS Nomination- Core Principles.
