All healthcare professionals must work within their professional competencies. As part of that it is important to understand the different legal frameworks available to prescribe, supply or administer Prescription Only Medicines.
All vaccines offered as part of a travel health consultation and most antimalarials are Prescription Only Medicines. The two mechanisms to prescribe, supply or administer these medicines are:
- Prescription or Patient Specific Directions (PSDs)
- Patient Group Directions (PGDs)
The Human Medicines Regulations 2012 defines both prescription requirements (https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2012/1916/regulation/214) and PGD requirements (https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2012/1916/schedule/16).
It is important that you understand both these mechanisms, including your responsibilities and accountabilities when employing them.
The Specialist Pharmacy Service (SPS) is an NHS website that provides detailed information about PGDs used in NHS. The responsibilities and accountabilities are the same whether medicines are provided under an NHS or private service. The information can be accessed here: https://www.sps.nhs.uk/home/guidance/patient-group-directions/
NaTHNaC and TRAVAX (subscription required) both have resources regarding medication management: