The National Health Service (Pharmaceutical and Local Pharmaceutical Services) Regulations 2013

Inducements etc.

30.—(1) An NHS pharmacist (P) (including P’s staff) must not give, promise or offer to any person any gift or reward (whether by way of a share of or dividend on the profits of P’s business or by way of discount or rebate or otherwise) as an inducement to or in consideration of a person (X)—

(a) presenting an order for drugs or appliances on a prescription form or repeatable prescription, non-electronic prescription form or non-electronic repeatable prescription;

(b) nominating P as X’s dispensing contractor (or one of them) in X’s PDS patient details; or

(c) receiving from P any directed services.

(2) Promising, offering or providing an auxiliary aid in relation to the supply of drugs or a home delivery service is not a gift or reward for the purposes of sub-paragraph (1).

(3) Nothing in sub-paragraph (1) prohibits P from providing to a patient to whom P is providing any directed services any gift which—

(a) is supplied as part of the provision of any directed service to that patient;

(b) is directly related to that directed service;

(c) is supplied in order to encourage or promote health or well-being or the adoption by the patient or the patient’s family of a healthy lifestyle; and

(d) in the case of a gift which—

(i) is not a medicine, has a monetary value not exceeding £10, or

(ii) is a medicine, is supplied as part of the provision of a minor ailments service.

(4) P (including P’s staff) must not give, promise or offer to any relevant person any gift or reward (including by way of a share of, or dividend on, the profits of P’s business, or by way of a discount or rebate) as an inducement to or in consideration of the relevant person recommending to any person that they—

(a) present to P an order for drugs or appliances on a prescription form or repeatable prescription;

(b) nominate P as their dispensing contractor (or one of them) in their entry in their PDS patient details; or

(c) ask P to provide them with any directed service.

(5) For the purpose of sub-paragraph (4), “relevant person” means any person who performs or provides NHS services, whether on their own behalf or on behalf of another, and includes—

(a) any NHS body or provider of primary medical services; and

(b) any person employed or engaged by any of the persons mentioned in paragraph (a).

(6) In the case of the provision of appliances, P (including P’s staff) must not accept or receive any gift or reward in respect of only—

(a) providing contact details of alternative NHS pharmacists or NHS appliance contractors pursuant to paragraph 10(2)(b), 12(4) or 20(2)(b); or

(b) referring a prescription form or repeatable prescription to another NHS pharmacist or NHS appliance contractor pursuant to paragraph 10(2)(a) or 20(2)(a) and providing no additional service in connection with the item on that prescription.