General Medical Services Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1997

Prescribing

48.—(1) Subject to paragraph 49, a doctor shall order any drugs or appliances which are needed for the treatment of any patient to whom he is providing treatment under these terms of service by issuing to that patient a prescription form, and such a form shall not be used in any other circumstances.

(2) In issuing any prescription form under paragraph (1) the doctor shall himself sign the form in ink with his initials, or forenames, and surname in his own handwriting and not by means of a stamp, and shall so sign only after particulars of the order have been inserted in the form, and—

(a) the prescription shall not refer to any previous prescription; and

(b) a separate prescription form shall be used for each patient, except where a special arrangement has been made in accordance with regulation 5 of the Pharmaceutical Regulations.

(3) Where a doctor orders drugs specified in Schedule 2 to the Misuse of Drugs Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1986(1) (controlled drugs to which regulations 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 25 and 26 of those Regulations apply) for supply by instalments for treating addiction to any drug specified in that Schedule, he shall—

(a) use only the prescription form provided by the Agency specially for the purposes of supply by instalments;

(b) specify the number of instalments to be dispensed and the interval between each instalment; and

(c) order only such quantity of the drug as will provide treatment for a period not exceeding 14 days.

(4) The form referred to in head (a) of sub-paragraph (3) shall not be used for any purpose other than ordering drugs in accordance with that sub-paragraph.

(5) In a case of urgency, a doctor may request a chemist to dispense a drug or an appliance before a prescription form is issued, only if—

(a) that drug is not a Scheduled drug;

(b) that drug is not a controlled drug within the meaning of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971(2) other than a drug which is for the time being specified in Schedule 5 to the Misuse of Drugs Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1986; and

(c) the doctor undertakes to furnish the chemist, within 72 hours, with a prescription form completed in accordance with sub-paragraph (2).

(1)

S.R. 1986 No. 52; the relevant amending Regulations are S.R. 1987 No. 68 and S.R. 1988 No. 206

(2)

1971 c. 38