Helen Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Jones on 2016-07-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he has taken to review the health impact of prescribing from online pharmacies; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt

As health professionals, online prescribers are regulated by their respective professional regulator. The General Medical Council (GMC) expects all doctors to take account of its guidance on remote prescribing and relevant clinical and other guidelines, regardless of how they prescribe.

Doctors working independently or in private practice, including on-line prescribers, with a business based in England, are regulated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), if they provide a regulated activity and are within scope of the CQC registration. They are required to provide people with safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led care.

Online pharmacies, like other registered pharmacies, are regulated by the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) and are required to comply with the GPhC’s standards for registered pharmacies. Pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, working in online pharmacies, are also regulated by the GPhC and must comply with the GPhC’s standards of conduct, ethics and performance.

The Department has not recently reviewed on-line prescribing.