A total of 490 items issued via electronic prescription service (EPS) in July were returned as disallowed by the NHS Business Services Authority.
The NHSBSA has shared with PSNC a list of the top 10 disallowed prescription items submitted for payment via EPS in the dispensing in July.
| Actual Medicinal Product Pack (AMPP) | Number of EPS items disallowed in July 2020 |
| Cerumol olive oil ear drops (Thornton & Ross Ltd) 10 ml | 136 |
| C-View dressing 6cm x 7cm (Aspen Medical Europe Ltd) 10 dressing | 23 |
| Calpol Soothe & Care saline 0.9% nasal drops (McNeil Products Ltd) 10 ml | 14 |
| Carmellose 0.5% eye drops (Colorama Pharmaceuticals Ltd) 10 ml | 12 |
| C-View dressing 10cm x 12cm (Aspen Medical Europe Ltd) 10 dressing | 11 |
| C-View dressing 10cm x 12cm (Aspen Medical Europe Ltd) 1 dressing | 10 |
| Water for irrigation 1litre bottles (Baxter Healthcare Ltd) 1 bottle | 10 |
| C-View dressing 6cm x 7cm (Aspen Medical Europe Ltd) 1 dressing | 10 |
| C-View dressing 12cm x 12cm (Aspen Medical Europe Ltd) 10 dressing | 7 |
| Sodium chloride 0.9% nasal drops (Sandoz Ltd) 10 ml | 6 |
The top 10 disallowed products were all appliances that were not listed in part IX of the drug tariff and therefore not allowed on an NHS prescription, the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) has said.
Although in majority of cases the disallowed products listed above were prescribed accordingly, in some cases contractors may have inadvertently selected and submitted a disallowed Actual Medicinal Product Pack (AMPP) in the EPS message.
“If a generically written prescription is received for a product which has several AMPP’s listed on the dictionary of medicines and devices (dm+d), pharmacy contractors should ensure that they select/endorse the correct AMPP that is allowed. If an AMPP is selected for a product that is not allowed on the NHS, the NHSBSA will not reimburse the item,” the pharmacy negotiator has said.
Some PMR suppliers have made adjustments to their systems to help minimise or remove the risk of users inadvertently dispensing a disallowed drug or appliance. This includes generating warning prompts when a disallowed product is prescribed or selected.
PSNC recommends that EPS suppliers synchronise to dm+d and drug tariff changes frequently to reduce the risks of users inadvertently prescribing, dispensing products that have recently been deleted or amended in the drug tariff.
EPS users should ensure their systems are kept up to date otherwise systems may not incorporate the latest data available.
Contractors can contact the NHS prescription services helpdesk, if an item is believed to have been disallowed in error by the NHSBSA.
Alternatively, contractors who have access to view their disallowed items via the Manage Your Service (MYS) dashboard can submit a challenge to the NHSBSA for disallowing an item.
If a disallowed item is successfully challenged by a contractor, the NHSBSA will reimburse that item and make a payment adjustment to the contractors account at the earliest opportunity, the PSNC said.
