Under current regulations, pharmacists<\/a> cannot modify prescriptions<\/a>, even when stock issues arise.<\/p>\n This restrictive framework means pharmacists cannot offer practical alternatives, such as substituting tablets<\/a> for capsules, or providing two 10mg doses instead of a single 20mg tablet. <\/p>\n Consequently, patients are frequently forced to visit multiple pharmacies<\/a> or return to their GP<\/a> for a new prescription to secure available medication.<\/p>\n The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) has highlighted that these limitations can leave individuals waiting weeks for essential medicines. <\/p>\n The organisation attributes the problem to outdated legislation, which it says prevents pharmacists from supplying suitable alternatives.<\/p>\n The National Pharmacy Association is calling on the Government to change the laws, which have been in place since 1968, to allow pharmacists to make substitutions where a medicine is not in stock, but a safe alternative is.<\/p>\n open image in gallery<\/p>\n One pharmacist reported their patients waiting more than a week for a medication for bipolar and schizophrenia (PA Archive)<\/p>\n In August, the Government pledges to consult on enabling community pharmacists to have the flexibility to supply an alternative strength, or quantity, against a prescription written by another prescriber.<\/p>\n The NPA said that the current situation is posing a risk to patient safety, as patients with serious health issues are facing unnecessary delays for vital medicines.<\/p>\n In some cases, patients have been forced to wait up to three weeks, it added.<\/p>\n A poll conducted by the NPA on 400 pharmacists found that 97 per cent said their patients had been forced to wait at least a day when the pharmacist had to request a new prescription from the prescriber \u2013 in the community this will usually be a GP or a practice nurse.<\/p>\n And 95 per cent reported that some patients went without medication when being referred back to their prescriber, despite a pharmacy having a safe alternative in stock that they were prevented from dispensing.<\/p>\n One pharmacist reported their patients waiting more than a week for a medication for bipolar and schizophrenia.<\/p>\n open image in gallery<\/p>\n A poll conducted by the NPA on 400 pharmacists found that 97 per cent said their patients had been forced to wait at least a day when the pharmacist had to request a new prescription from the prescriber (PA)<\/p>\n Another described how an eight-year-old with a water infection was forced to visit A&E due to a certain formulation of antibiotic being out of stock, despite the pharmacist having a different formulation available.<\/p>\n Olivier Picard, chairman of the National Pharmacy Association, said: \u201cPharmacists are highly trained medicines experts who already advise GPs on clinically suitable alternative medicines that is available in their pharmacy.<\/p>\n \u201cThe current status quo is not only frustrating for patients, it is also dangerous.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is madness to send someone back to their GP to get a prescription changed when a safe alternative is in stock.<\/p>\n \u201cIt risks a patient either delaying taking vital medication or forgoing it altogether, which poses a clear risk to patient safety.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot has changed in 60 years. Medicine shortages are now becoming common place and pharmacists are delivering more clinical care than ever before.<\/p>\n \u201cWe urgently need amended legislation, allowing pharmacists the flexibility to make safe prescription substitutions, where appropriate, when a medicine is unavailable.\u201d<\/p>\n The Department of Health and Social Care has been approached for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":147596,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[64,63,137,490],"class_list":{"0":"post-147595","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-medication","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-medication"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147595","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=147595"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147595\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/147596"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=147595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=147595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=147595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"One](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/8ff30bb2634ca66057cf8a0a41ea9c9dY29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzU3NjAyNDg2-2.8036766.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n