Source · Select Committees · Health and Social Care Committee
Recommendation 7
7
Deferred
Paragraph: 51
Introduce generic substitution following consultation to ensure patient safety and supply chain stability.
Recommendation
We believe that allowing generic substitution would be an important way of reducing the need for patients to return to their GP for out-of-stock medication. We further recommend the introduction of generic substitution, which should follow a government consultation focusing on how best this policy could be implemented to ensure patient safety and avoid the potential for unintended impacts on the supply chain.
Government response summary AI-generated
The government responds by outlining its commitment to expanding the role of pharmacists and introducing prescribing services, but does not address the specific recommendation to introduce generic substitution or to consult on its implementation.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Paragraph Reference:
51
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government · verbatim extract
Deferred
As above, the Human Medicines Regulations 2012 (HMRs 2012) require pharmacists to dispense “in accordance with a prescription”. This has been interpreted to mean supply of medicines must be the exact product and quantity prescribed with some limited exceptions. 81% of all drugs in primary care are already prescribed generically. Where a prescription has been prescribed by a brand, there could be good clinical reasons why a patient must be maintained on a specific manufacturer’s product, because of issues of bioequivalence (e.g. anti-epileptics) or where patients suffer from side effects or are allergic to a particular excipient. DHSC have previously consulted on introducing generic substitution in primary care but did not progress the proposals following concerns highlighted about these potential impacts on patient safety.
Read the full response on Parliament ↗