Summary
The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) has written via email to pharmacists and owners of pharmacies with the GPhC’s voluntary internet pharmacy logo, to address ongoing patient safety concerns affecting the online sector. The emails highlight that over 30% of the GPhC's open Fitness to Practise cases relate to online pharmacy—a disproportionate number for the sector of the market that online services occupy. Common issues raised in these cases include:
- medicines being prescribed to patients on the basis of an online questionnaire alone, with no direct interaction between the prescriber and either the patient or their GP .
- prescribing of high-risk medications or medications which require monitoring without adequate safeguards.
- prescribing of medicines outside the prescriber’s scope of practice.
- high volumes of prescriptions being issued by the prescriber in short periods of time.
The emails also recognise the benefits and risks of online pharmacies, outline how the GPhC may take enforcement action against an online pharmacy, and recommend what actions pharmacists and pharmacy owners should take in response to the patient safety concerns raised.
You can view the emails in full:
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