Services Database Community Pharmacy Scheme for the on Demand Availability of Drugs for Palliative Care

The pharmacy holds the specified list of medicines required to deliver this service in their respective minimum stock quanitites and will dispense these in response to NHS prescriptions presented. The pharmacist should be prepared to telephone suppliers to confirm deliver of stock if necessary (or delegate this task appropriately).  The pharmacist must keep patients or their representatives fully informed regarding supplies of medicines (or delegate this task appropriately).  An additional specialist palliative care drugs list (List B see below) will be held be a single pharmacy contractor in their respective minimum stock quantities.

If a participating pharmacy is not able to fill the prescription in the time available then he / she needs to find another Community Pharmacy who is able to fill the prescription. This should be done by telephoning another Community Pharmacy, it should not be assumed that just because a Community Pharmacy is on the palliative care list they can supply on every occasion.

The pharmacist should co-ordinate with the prescriber to plan in advance for increased medication demand, particularly weekends and public holidays, when this is appropriate.

The pharmacy provides details of on-call contacts who will meet the commitment to have prompt access to the agreed list of medicines during their opening hours.

In the event of long-term availability problems, the pharmacy should liaise with the CCG and local palliative care team to arrange for suitable alternatives to be kept in stock.

The pharmacy contractor has a duty to ensure that pharmacists and staff involved in the provision of the service have relevant knowledge and are appropriately trained in the operation of the service.