Patient experience is at heart of decision to prescribe a special
When the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) updated it’s guidance on the procurement and supply of specials 1, the focus was on putting the patient experience at the very heart of the process. The APSM supports this approach, believing that the emphasis on cost in recent years has sometimes clouded this underlying principle of a special provision. Says the RPS Guideline, the starting point is to establish the optimal treatment for the patient, this means that if a suitable licenced medicine is not available a Special must be offered to meet the patient’s special circumstances and urgency of need for treatment. This basic decision to supply a Special therefore, cannot be based on cost or convenience. Case Study: A GP prescribed an anti-inflammatory drug in a dispersible tablet formulation for a child with arthritis. A week later the mother returned to the GP because the child was still in pain despite giving the medicine as directed. The GP found out that the child had be