Dealing with Patient Prescribing Requested

The Dilemma

You are a pharmacist prescriber who runs a clinic for a local surgery, specialising in respiratory medicine (ie asthma/COPD patients). A patient come to the pharmacy for an annual review of their condition, and you have access to their medical notes so are aware of their co-morbidities and regular repeat medication. At the end of a consultation, you are busy writing out the relevant prescription, the patient asks: "While I'm here, could you just prescribe me some of my water tablets?" The patient has been on furosemide 40mg OD for several months. What do you do?

Discussion

The RPSGB advises that all pharmacist prescribers, whether supplementary or independent, must prescribe within their competencies and only medication appropriate for the patient. You know that the patient is already being prescribed the requested item by a GP, but it is for a condition that you do not normally deal with.

If the patient asks for something that I would normally be comfortable selling to them over the counter, such as emollients, antihistamines, or...