The UK FMD Working group has issued the following statement to Pharmacies regarding FMD.
Community pharmacies must work towards compliance with the Falsified Medicines Directive (FMD) in time for February 9th deadline irrespective of any Brexit scenario, pharmacy bodies have said today (29th January 2019).
The guidance, from the UK FMD Working Group for Community Pharmacy, follows recent meetings between the regulators, the government and the Working Group itself.
Chair of the Working Group, Raj Patel, said:
“All parties recognise the challenges around FMD and we are confident that the regulators will take a pragmatic and even-handed approach to enforcement. Nevertheless, pharmacies must make efforts to be compliant with the new FMD safety features, by the deadline. Pharmacies must act promptly, but they must also act properly to ensure they are prepared for the new FMD safety features. They must carefully consider the terms of any contract for FMD solutions and make sure they are future-proof in any post-Brexit scenario. Other practical adjustments might be required, such as modifying dispensing workflows and all pharmacies will need to update their standard operating procedures."
“However, there will be very few packs of medicines in pharmacies with the FMD safety features, on February 9th, as they will
take time to come through the medicines supply system, so inevitably the sector is on a journey towards full implementation.”
From February 9th, pharmacies must check the integrity of the anti-tampering device and scan the 2D barcode to mark each pack as decommissioned (or dispensed) in the FMD database. It is understood there will be significant quantities of medicines in the supply chain that do not carry the new safety features, after February 9th, but they can still be wholesaled and dispensed."
Pharmacies are expected to have clear standard operating procedures in place to empower individuals to make judgement calls they could later justify, rather than disrupt supply to patients.
General Pharmaceutical Council inspectors will not focus unduly on any single issue and will assess the pharmacy in the round considering the health, safety and wellbeing of patients and the public.
Visit the Working Group’s website – FMD Source for more information on FMD.
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