The Pharmaceutical Services (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2022

Amendment of regulation 2 of the Pharmaceutical Regulations

2.—(1) Regulation 2(1) of the Pharmaceutical Regulations (interpretation) is amended as follows.

(2) After “appropriate non-proprietary name” insert —

““authorisation” means permission to supply a drug in accordance with a PTP;”.

(3) After “the Order” insert —

““paramedic independent prescriber” means a person—

(a)

who is registered in Part 8 of the register maintained under Article 5 of the Health and Social Work Professions Order 2001; and

(b)

against whose name in that register is recorded an annotation signifying that person is qualified to order drugs, medicines or appliances as a paramedic independent prescriber;”.

(4) For the definition of “prescriber” substitute—

““prescriber” means a doctor, dentist, a chiropodist or podiatrist independent prescriber, an independent nurse prescriber, an optometrist independent prescriber, a paramedic independent prescriber, a pharmacist independent prescriber, a physiotherapist independent prescriber, a therapeutic radiographer independent prescriber or a supplementary prescriber;”.

(5) After “the Prescription of Drugs Regulations” insert—

““PTP” means a pandemic treatment protocol, which is a protocol—

(a)

relating to the supply of a prescription only medicine to be used for the prevention of or as a treatment for a disease that is, or in anticipation of it being imminently, pandemic; and

(b)

approved in accordance with regulation 247 of the Human Medicines Regulations 2012(1) (exemption for supply in the event or anticipation of pandemic disease);”.

(6) For the definition of “relevant register” substitute—

““relevant register” means—

(a)

in relation to a nurse, the Nursing and Midwifery Register;

(b)

in relation to a paramedic, the register maintained under Article 5 of the Health and Social Work Professions Order 2001; and

(c)

in relation to a pharmacist, the register maintained under Article 10(1) (the Register of Pharmacists) of the Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians Order 2007 or the register maintained in pursuance of Articles 6 (the registers) and 9 (the register) of the Pharmacy (Northern Ireland) Order 1976; ”.

(7) In the definition of “supplementary prescriber”—

(a) at the end of sub-paragraph (a)(iv)(bb) and (cc), omit “or” at both places where it occurs; and

(b) after sub-paragraph (a)(iv)(cc) insert “(dd) dietitians; or”;

(8) In the definition of “terms of service”, omit “and”;

(9) After “terms of service” insert —

““therapeutic radiographer independent prescriber” means a person—

(a)

who is a registered radiographer; and

(b)

against whose name is recorded in the relevant register –

(i)

an entitlement to use the title “therapeutic radiographer”, and

(ii)

an annotation signifying that the person is qualified to order drugs, medicines and appliances as a therapeutic radiographer independent prescriber; and”.

(1)

S.I. 2012/1916; regulation 247 has been amended by S.I. 2013/235 and S.I. 2020/1125