Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of allowing community pharmacists to substitute prescription medication for generic alternatives in cases of medicine shortages.

If the generic name is written on the prescription, pharmacists can dispense any supplier’s version of that product. However, where the prescription is written for a brand or a supplier, then the pharmacist is required to supply that specific product. Generic substitution was consulted on in 2010 but the proposals were not progressed following concerns about the potential impact on patient safety. Currently, Serious Shortages Protocols (SSPs) are a tool that has been used in recent years to manage and mitigate medicine and medical device shortages. An SSP enables community pharmacists to supply a specified alternative medicine or device, with the patient’s consent, and without needing to seek authorisation from the prescriber. SSPs are developed with the input of clinical experts and are a safe, effective way to ensure medicines continue to be available for everyone who needs them.