End of temporary suspension of signatures on prescriptions

The temporary suspension of the need for the person collecting the prescription to sign the prescription form or EPS token is due to end on 31 August 2021.

Whilst the PSNC waits for confirmation from the Department of Health and Social Care on signature suspension, contractors should prepare to start asking for signatures from 1^st September.

In addition, the submission requirement of certain EPS tokens to the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) is also due to resume from 1 September. 

From September 2021, patients (or their representatives) will be required to sign the reverse of NHS prescription forms or tokens for all prescriptions presented at the pharmacy on or after 1 September 2021 EXCEPT for those with an automatic exemption (age exempt, Free of charge med, those using Real Time Exemption Checking (RTEC)).

Unless an automatic exemption applies, contractors will be required to submit all relevant tokens (for prescriptions presented at the pharmacy on or after 1 September) to the NHSBSA together with their monthly prescription bundle.

The dispensing process:

• Ask patients who pay, to pay the relevant number of charge(s) and sign the reverse of the prescription/ token;
• Patients claiming to be exempt must be asked for evidence of their exemption and must sign the back. The “Evidence Not Seen” box on the reverse of the form must be marked with an ‘X’ if no evidence is seen.
• For EPS tokens, ensure the correct paid or exempt declaration is applied to the electronic message before it is submitted for payment to the NHSBSA.

The end of month submission process: 

• Pharmacy staff must ensure that FP10 paper prescriptions forms (including those submitted using red separators) are sorted into their correct groups (exempt, or paid), taking extra care that exempt prescriptions are NOT inadvertently submitted with the paid bundle or vice-versa. 
• To avoid any movement or mixing of prescriptions between patient charge groups during transit, elastic bands should be used to secure prescriptions in their relevant group for submission. If you are submitting a small number of forms, a paper clip may be used to secure the prescriptions in their relevant group.
• Tokens used to claim payment for supplies made against Serious Shortage Protocols (SSPs) must be placed in the red separator on top of the relevant paid/exempt prescription bundle in a secure manner.