Medicines Management - NHS Primary Care Prescription (FP10)

NHS PRIMARY CARE PRESCRIPTION (FP10)

The prescription can be handwritten or computer-generated
The prescription can only be dispensed by a community pharmacy
The endorsement section of the prescription is for the pharmacist to complete
From April 2020, patients in England will pay £9 per prescription item, unless they are exempt
The following is a list of exemption criteria for prescription charges:
- 60 years of age or over or under 16 years of age
- 16, 17 or 18 years old and in full-time education
- Maternity exemption certificate – expectant mothers and those who have given birth to a stillborn child in the last 12 months
- Medical exemption certificate
- Prescription prepayment certificate
- Prescription exemption certificate issued by Ministry of Defense
- HC2 (full help) certificate
- Income support or income related employment and support allowance
- Income based jobseeker’s allowance
- Tax credit exemption certificate
- Pension Credit guarantee credit (including partners)
- Universal Credit and meets the criteria
- Prescribed a free-of-charge contraceptive
- Prescribed treatment for a sexually transmitted infection
In Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland all NHS prescription items are free of charge

NHS Primary Care Electronic Prescription Service

Instead of handwriting or printing a computer-generated FP10 prescription, prescribers can utilise the Electronic Prescription Service (EPS)
EPS is a paperless system where prescribers in primary care can send an electronic prescription to a patient’s nominated pharmacy
EPS makes the prescribing and dispensing process more efficient and convenient for patients and staff
- EPS helps avoid the need to collect prescriptions from the GP surgery
There will be some patients, for whom EPS may not be suitable

NHS Primary Care Repeat Prescriptions

For patients with stable long-term conditions, medicines can be requested without seeing the prescriber in primary care up until their clinical review date
Patients can also instruct their nominated pharmacy to download their repeat prescription using EPS, however, there will be some patients who are not suitable for electronic Repeat Dispensing
The clinical review date is set by the prescriber and should not exceed 12 months, as recommended by CQC

To increase safety and reduce waste, the quantity prescribed of the individual repeat prescriptions should not generally exceed a supply of 56 or 60 days, with some Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) stipulating 28 or 30 days

For patients with asthma, COPD, type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension or those taking an antiplatelet or anticoagulant, who have been prescribed a new medicine for the first time, there is a referral scheme called The New Medication Service (NMS)
- This consists of three consultations with the community pharmacist over the first month of treatment to help and advise the patient on their medicine

Private Prescriptions

All legal prescription writing requirements apply to private prescriptions
The prescription can be written on any piece of paper
If a Schedule 2 or 3 controlled drug is prescribed for dispensing in the community, a special form (FP10PCD) must be used by the prescriber
Be familiar with your local Trust policy on private prescriptions.