Services Database Pharmacist Not Dispensed Scheme

The service enables community pharmacies to identify where prescribed medicines are being ordered or used inappropriately and to improve service user outcomes. This may be through  a Medicines Use Review with the service user and the provision of feedback to GP surgeries.

The object of this scheme is to reduce the burden of waste medicines within Gloucestershire, which has far reaching implications both financially and in terms of harm and health outcomes for service users in Gloucestershire.

The aims of the service are to:

• reduce the number of unwanted medicines dispensed and therefore wasted, by not dispensing items that not required by the service user;
• notify the prescriber when an item prescribed has not been dispensed;
• promote, support and encourage good repeat/ prescribing practices;
• highlight over or under usage of medicines to the prescriber;
• highlight prescribing inefficiencies to the prescriber; and
• reduce unnecessary prescribing costs.

This service will be undertaken at the point of dispensing by discussing the prescribed medicine with the service user, or their authorised representative, to identify any item that is not required. This will help to prevent service users stockpiling of prescribed medicines and reduce inefficiencies in prescribing on FP10s. The pharmacist will notify the GP of any item(s) not dispensed using the Not Dispensed Intervention Report Form, sent to the practice for the attention of the Prescribing Support Pharmacist.

The community 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 and operate within the SOP.