Dear Pharmacist

Schedule 8 Prescription Update

Update: Our October newsletter included an article on applying the legislation ‘What is a legal prescription?’ .

The Pharmaceutical Regulatory Unit have now updated their publication  CRITERIA FOR ISSUING NON-HANDWRITTEN (COMPUTER GENERATED) PRESCRIPTIONS (TG184).  The change (to General Notes: 5) which removes the word ‘only’, now reads:

Where a computer-generated Schedule 8 PBS prescription is printed in duplicate, the mandatory prescribing data elements must be written in the prescriber’s own handwriting on one copy of the prescription, which is to be retained by the pharmacy.

This update does not preclude a prescriber from handwriting on both copies of the prescription.  The updated TG184 is now available on the NSW Ministry of Health Website – Pharmaceutical Services – Guides for Pharmacists.