Is this prescription form valid?
Is this prescription form valid?
Only certain types of paper prescription forms can be used for dispensing within the NHS, so it is important for community pharmacy contractors to be able to identify which paper form types are valid and allowed, and which are not. Paper form types can be identified by the code on the bottom right of a prescription. The table below indicates the prescriptions forms that can be used for dispensing by NHS community pharmacy teams in England and Wales.
These forms are used by prescribers to print paper prescriptions or EPS tokens.
Forms originating in England
Colour of paper form | Paper form | Who they are used by | Further information |
Green | FP10SS |
|
Prescriptions must be annotated with the type of prescriber issuing it, for example, community practitioner nurse prescriber (formerly known as district nurse/health visitors) or nurse independent prescriber. Forms annotated with the initials RD are repeat dispensing forms. Forms annotated with the initials RA are repeat authorisation forms. Further information can be found on our Who can prescribe what? page. |
FP10NC |
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FP10HNC |
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Blue | FP10MDA-SS |
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Prescriptions must be annotated with the type of prescriber issuing it. Further information can be found on our pages Who can prescribe what? and Instalment Dispensing. |
FP10MDA-S |
|
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FP10MDA-SP |
|
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FP10HMDA |
|
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Yellow | FP10D |
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Only items listed in the Dental Formulary (Part XVIIA of the Drug Tariff) can be prescribed on this prescription form. Dentists are strongly advised to prescribe generically; however, they can prescribe by its brand equivalent name provided it is not listed in Part XVIIIA of the Drug Tariff (drugs, medicines and other substances that may not be ordered under the NHS). Further information can be found on our Who can prescribe what? page. |
Lilac | FP10PN |
|
Prescriptions must be annotated with the type of prescriber issuing it. Unless annotated with Independent/Supplementary prescriber, only items listed in the nurse formulary can be prescribed on this prescription. Further information can be found on our Who can prescribe what? page. FP10P-REC are used by OOH providers to record items supplied directly to a patient and not dispensed through a community pharmacy. These forms, are submitted to Pricing Authority directly by the OOH provider through their own account. |
FP10SP |
|
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FP10P-REC (Non-FP10 supply form) | Out of Hours (OOH) Centre prescribers | ||
White online | FP10CDF | Controlled Drug requisition form |
The buff coloured FP10CDF Controlled Drug requisition form to obtain Schedule 2 and 3 Controlled Drugs for stock from a community pharmacy has been replaced with a new approved mandatory requisition form which is available from the NHSBSA website. Requisitions must be received on the new mandatory form. Further information can be found on our Controlled Drug prescription forms and validity and Who can prescribe what? pages. |
Pink | FP10PCDSS | Prescribers of Schedule 2 and 3 controlled drugs prescribed in the private sector where prescriptions are dispensed by community pharmacy |
Prescriptions must be annotated with the type of prescriber issuing it. Copies need to be sent to the Pricing Authority separately to NHS prescription forms at the end of the month for audit purposes. You will need a private dispensing code, which is separate to your normal OCS code, when you fill in the FP34PCD under A/C ID. Further information can be found on our Controlled Drug prescription forms and validity and Who can prescribe what? pages. |
FP10PCDNC |
Click on a heading below to reveal more information.
Paper forms originating in Wales
Colour of paper form | Paper form | Who can use or what they are used for | Further information |
Green |
WP10 WP10SS WP10SP WP10HP WP10HSP |
|
Forms annotated with the initials RD are repeat dispensing forms. Forms annotated with the initials RA are repeat authorisation forms. |
Green |
WP10D |
|
Only items listed in the dental formulary can be prescribed on this prescription. |
Green |
WP10CN WP10PN |
|
Only items listed in the relevant formularies can be prescribed on this prescription. |
Green |
WP10MDA WP10HP(AD) |
Instalment dispensing prescription form. | More information on can be found on our Instalment Dispensing page. |
Paper forms originating in Scotland
Colour of paper form | Paper form | Who can use or what they are used for |
Peach |
GP10 GP10SS |
|
Lilac |
GP10(N) |
|
Yellow |
GP14 |
|
Blue |
HBP |
|
Pink |
HBP(A) | Instalment dispensing prescription for drug addicts. |
Paper forms originating in Northern Ireland
Colour of paper form | Paper form | Who can use or what they are used for |
Shaded Green and Pink | HS21 HS21CS |
|
Yellow | HS21D |
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Shaded Green and Pink | HS21X HS21XCS | Non-Medical Prescribers
|
Shaded Green and Pink | HS21N HS21NCS |
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Please note – Instalment dispensing has no specific form type in Northern Ireland and can occur on HS21, HS21N, HS21X, SP1 & SP2 forms (SP1 & SP2 forms are used by Consultants in secondary care to provide substitute prescribing drugs in primary care, it would be unlikely for these forms to be presented to a pharmacy outside of Northern Ireland).
Paper forms originating in the Isle of Man
Colour of paper form | Paper form | Who can use or what they are used for |
Pink |
HS10 |
|
Blue |
HS10MDA | Instalment dispensing form. |
Green (handwritten) |
HS10 |
|
Pink (computer-generated) |
HS10 |
|
Purple |
HS10 |
|
Pink |
HS10SS |
|
Paper forms NOT eligible
Pharmacy contractors in England and Wales WILL NOT be reimbursed by the NHS for dispensing the following prescription forms:
Colour of paper form | Paper form | Reason for not dispensing |
Pink |
CP2/3 | Generated as part of the Scottish Minor Ailment Service. |
Buff |
CPUS | Community pharmacy urgent supply forms generated by Scottish pharmacies. |
White |
FMed296 | Issued to service personnel (army). Should be dispensed in a barracks pharmacy. |
Yellowish/ orange |
FP10CDF/WP10DF | Controlled Drug requisition form. |
White |
FP10L | Drug testing scheme form. |
Lilac |
FP10PRec | Used by out of hours centres. |
Pink |
GP10A | Scottish GP stock order form. |
Buff |
GP10S | Issued to Scottish service personnel. |
Pink |
GP10DTS | Drug testing scheme in Scotland. |
White |
HOOF | Used to order home oxygen from the NHS home oxygen service suppliers. |
White |
HS21S | GP stock order form in Northern Ireland. |
Yellow/ white |
PS6 | Issued by primary care prescribers in Guernsey. |
Yellow/ white |
H9 | Issued by primary care prescribers in Jersey. |
Pink |
FP10PCD-SS FP10PCD-NC |
English private prescription for Controlled Drugs. Copies of these forms should be sent to the Pricing Authority each month for information purposes and not for reimbursement. More information is available in the Controlled Drug Guidance section of this site. |
Pink |
WP10PCD WP10PCDSS |
Welsh private prescription for Controlled Drugs. Copies of these forms should be sent to the Pricing Authority each month for information purposes and not for reimbursement. More information is available in the Controlled Drug Guidance section of this site. |
Beige/ buff |
PPCD(1) | Scottish private prescription for Controlled Drugs. Copies of these forms should be sent to the Pricing Authority each month for information purposes and not for reimbursement. More information is available in the Controlled Drug Guidance section of this site. |
Please refer to the prescription charges section of our website for guidance on whether forms originating elsewhere in the UK attract prescription charges or not.
Additional information
Click on a heading below to reveal more information.
Controlled Drug prescription paper forms
Prescriptions for Schedule 1, 2 and 3 Controlled Drugs have additional requirements and reduced periods of validity compared to prescriptions for other products. Please visit the Controlled Drug section of our website to find out more.
Bulk prescriptions
A separate prescription form should be issued for each individual patient; the only exception to this is ‘bulk prescriptions’.
Part VIIIA, Notes, Paragraph 9 of the Drug Tariff outlines the arrangements for bulk prescriptions:
A “Bulk” prescription is an order for two or more patients, bearing the name of a school or institution in which at least 20 persons normally reside, for the treatment of at least 10 of whom a particular doctor is responsible. Such a prescription must be an order for a drug which is prescribable under the NHS and which is not designated “Prescription Only Medicine” (POM) under Section 58(1) of the Medicines Act 1968, or for a prescribable dressing which does not contain a product which is designated POM.
No prescription charge is payable when a bulk prescription is dispensed.
Bar coded paper prescriptions
Details of dispensing electronic prescriptions can be found in this section of our website.
Prescriber cost centre codes
The Pricing Authority, when it prices prescriptions, must be able to identify the cost centre in order to recharge the costs to the appropriate area. Therefore, following the NHS re-organisation, a new requirement was introduced to ensure prescriptions contain a prescriber code.
More information on prescriber cost centre codes can be found on this webpage.
EPS prescriber type EPS codes
EPS prescriptions include prescriber type EPS codes that indicate the type of prescriber e.g. a General Practitioner (GP) or a Community practitioner nurse.
Read more at: EPS prescriber type code.
FAQs
Q. There has been an outbreak of scabies within a family. Rather than issuing one prescription per family member, the prescriber has ordered sufficient quantity of Permethrin 5% cream on one prescription to cover the whole family. Is this allowed?
No. Bulk prescription are not intended to cover situations such as these. The only exception to this rule is where the prescriber is responsible under their GMS contract for the treatment of 10 or more persons in a school or other institution in which at least 20 persons normally reside; and where the prescriber needs to prescribe for two or more of those persons for whose treatment the contractor is responsible. The prescription should bear the name of the school of institution concerned.
More information about bulk prescriptions can be found in Part VIIIA, Notes, Paragraph 9 of the Drug Tariff. A key point to note is that bulk prescriptions can only be issued for prescribable dressings and for medicines which are not classified as prescription only medicines.
Q. Is it legal for a GP to post-date prescriptions, say for 3 or 6 months, for a patient to retain and get dispensed when required?
Yes. According to The Human Medicines Regulations 2012, a prescription must be endorsed with an “appropriate date”, defined as “…the later of the date on which it was signed by the appropriate practitioner giving it or a date indicated by the appropriate practitioner as being the date before which it should not be dispensed (see Reg. 217 (7)).”
However, we suggest that the GP should give serious consideration to whether a repeatable prescription will be more appropriate, especially for those medicinal products which are suitable for repeat prescribing – repeatable prescriptions enable the pharmacist to make checks on whether the continued medication is appropriate for the patient, and are generally a preferred method than post-dating prescriptions.
Related Resources
Human Medicines Regulations 2012
The National Health Service (Pharmaceutical and Local Pharmaceutical Services) Regulations 2013
Dispensing Factsheet: Is this item allowed
How long is a prescription valid for?
Controlled Drug prescription forms and validity
How to identify prescriber cost centre codes
Prescription form section of the Pricing Authority’s website (external)