General Medical and Pharmaceutical Services (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996

Amendment of Schedule 4 to the principal regulations

11.  In Schedule 4 to the principal regulations (terms of service for chemists)—

(a) in paragraph 3 after sub-paragraph (1)(d) there shall be inserted the following sub-paragraph—

“(e) if the person presenting the prescription form asks the chemist to do so—

(i) he shall give an estimate of the time when the drugs, medicines or appliances will be ready; and

(ii) if they are not ready by then, he shall give a revised estimate of the time when they will be ready and so on;”;

(b) for paragraph 5 (dispensing of medicines) there shall be substituted the following paragraph—

“Provision of drugs and fitting of appliances

5.— (1) Drugs shall be provided either by or under the direct supervision of a pharmacist.

(2) Where the pharmacist referred to in sub-paragraph (1) is employed by a chemist, the pharmacist must not be one—

(a) who, having been disqualified under paragraph 3(b) of Schedule 11 to the Order (or any corresponding provision in force in England and Wales or Scotland) from inclusion in the pharmaceutical list (or, in England and Wales, the pharmaceutical list of a Health Authority or, in Scotland, the pharmaceutical list of a Health Board), is also the subject of a declaration under paragraph 3(c) of Schedule 11 to the Order (or any corresponding provision in force in England and Wales or Scotland) that he is not fit to be engaged in any capacity in the provision of pharmaceutical services; or

(b) who is suspended by direction of the Tribunal, other than in a case falling within paragraph 8B(3) of Schedule 11 to the Order.

(3) Subject to paragraph 3(1)(a) a chemist shall make all necessary arrangements—

(a) for measuring a person who presents a prescription for a truss or other appliance of a type requiring measurement and fitting by the chemist; and

(b) for fitting the appliance;”;

(c) in paragraph 8 after sub-paragraph (4)(c) there shall be inserted the following sub-paragraph—

“(d) a chemist who has undertaken to provide additional professional services within the meaning of regulation 36A shall on receipt of a written request from the Board make available to the Board all records kept in accordance with regulation 36A(2)(c) and shall permit the Board or another person on its behalf at any reasonable time to inspect the premises from which those services are provided for the purpose of satisfying itself that those services are being provided in accordance with the undertaking;”;

(d) after paragraph 9 there shall be inserted the following paragraphs—

“Complaints

9A.— (1) Subject to sub-paragraph (2), a chemist shall establish and operate in accordance with this paragraph, a procedure (in this paragraph and in paragraph 9B referred to as a “complaints procedure”) to deal with any complaints made by or on behalf of any person to whom he has provided pharmaceutical services.

(2) The complaints procedure to be established by a chemist may be such that it also deals with complaints made in relation to one or more other chemists.

(3) The complaints procedure to be established by a chemist who provides pharmaceutical services from more than one set of premises may be such that it relates to all those premises together.

(4) A complaints procedure shall apply to complaints made in relation to any matter reasonably connected with the chemist’s provision of pharmaceutical services and within the responsibility or control of—

(a) the chemist;

(b) where the chemist is a body corporate, any of its directors or former directors;

(c) a former partner of the chemist;

(d) any pharmacist employed by the chemist;

(e) any employee of the chemist other than one falling within sub-paragraph (d);

and in this paragraph and paragraph 9B, references to complaints are to complaints falling within this sub-paragraph.

(5) A complaint may be made on behalf of any person with his consent, or—

(a) where he is under 16 years of age—

(i) by either parent, or in the absence of both parents, the guardian or other adult person who has care of the child; or

(ii) where the child is in the care of a Board or HSS trust to whose care he has been committed under the provisions of the Children and Young Persons Act (Northern Ireland) 1968 by a person duly authorised by that Board or trust; or

(iii) where the child is in the care of a voluntary organisation, by that organisation or a person duly authorised by it, or

(iv) where the child is in a training school, by the Manager of that training school; or

(b) where he is incapable of making a complaint, by a relative or other adult person who has an interest in his welfare.

(6) A complaint may be made as respects a person who has died by a relative or other adult person who had an interest in his welfare, or when he was as described in paragraph (a)(ii), (iii) or (iv) of sub-paragraph (5), by the Board or HSS trust, or voluntary organisation, or the manager of the training school.

(7) A complaints procedure shall comply with the following requirements—

(a) the chemist must specify a person (who need not be connected with the chemist and whom in the case of an individual, may be specified by his job title) to be responsible for receiving and investigating all complaints.

(b) all complaints must be—

(i) recorded in writing,

(ii) acknowledged, either orally or in writing, within the period of 3 days (excluding Saturdays, Sundays and Bank and Public Holidays) beginning with and including the day on which the complaint was received by the person specified under head (a) or, where that is not possible, as soon as reasonably practicable, and

(iii) properly investigated;

(c) within the period of 10 days (excluding Saturdays, Sundays and Bank and Public Holidays) beginning with and including the day on which the complaint was received by the person specified under head (a) or, where that is not possible, as soon as reasonably practicable, the complainant must be given a written summary of the investigation and its conclusions;

(d) where the investigation of the complaint requires consideration of any records relating to the person as respects whom the complaint is made, the person specified under head (a) must inform him or the person acting on his behalf if the investigation will involve disclosure of information contained in those records to a person other than the chemist or a director, partner or employee of the chemist; and

(e) the chemist must keep a record of all complaints and copies of all correspondence relating to complaints, but such records must be kept separate from any records relating to the person by whom the complaint was made.

(8) At each of the premises at which the chemist provides pharmaceutical services he must provide information about the complaints procedure, and give the name (or title) and address of the person specified under paragraph (3)(a); and where he provides supplemental services he must provide the same information to the person referred to in regulation 36(3)(a).

9B.— (1) A chemist must co-operate with any investigation of a complaint by the Board in accordance with the procedures which it operates in accordance with directions given under Article 17(1) of the Order, whether the investigation follows one under the chemist’s complaints procedure or not.

(2) The co-operation required by sub-paragraph (1) includes—

(a) answering questions reasonably put to the chemist by the Board;

(b) providing any information relating to the complaint reasonably required by the Board; and

(c) attending any meeting to consider the complaint (if held at a reasonably accessible place and at a reasonable hour, and due notice has been given), if the chemist’s presence at the meeting is reasonably required by the Board.”;

(e) after paragraph 9 there shall be inserted the following paragraph—

“Professional standards

10.— (1) A pharmacist whose name is on the pharmaceutical list shall provide pharmaceutical services and exercise any professional judgment in connection with the provision of such services in conformity with the standards generally accepted in the pharmaceutical profession.

(2) A chemist who employs a pharmacist in connection with the provision of pharmaceutical services shall secure that the pharmacist complies with the requirements set out in sub-paragraph (1).”.