BMA concerns over SSPs

The Human Medicines (Amendment) Regulations 2019 order that came into force last week describes the Serious Shortage Protocols that give pharmacists greater powers to exercise judgement in the event of medicines shortages. The government said these protocols are designed to be a safety mechanism in the event of any serious national shortage, not just a shortage because of Brexit. However the British Medical Association does not like some of the protocols and is of the opinion that dispensing therapeutic equivalents to prescribed medicines could result in unexpected risks.
A BMA statement said: “We do not agree with this as a blanket approach. Patients have idiosyncratic responses to drugs within the same class, and the pharmacist will not know what has already been used. This would, effectively, be a new prescription. However, in a crisis situation we would accept a pharmacist amending the prescription only after discussion with the prescriber including information about medicines availability. This should result in no delay to the patient in receiving the equivalent medicine.”