The term private prescription is a term used in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

for a

medical prescription A prescription, often abbreviated or Rx, is a formal communication from a physician or other registered health-care professional to a pharmacist, authorizing them to dispense a specific prescription drug for a specific patient. Historicall ...

which is not supplied under the

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

(NHS). Unlike for

NHS prescription Charges for prescriptions for medicines and some medical appliances are payable by adults in England under the age of 60. However, people may be exempt from charges in various exemption categories. Charges were abolished by NHS Wales in 2007, Hea ...

there is no special stationery as mandated by the General Medical Council; a private prescription can be printed, handwritten or created electronically by an authorised prescriber on any piece of paper or regulatory compliant electronic system such as Clynxx. The exception is that since July 2006, the

Department of Health A health department or health ministry is a part of government which focuses on issues related to the general health of the citizenry. Subnational entities, such as states, counties and cities, often also operate a health department of their ow ...

has required private prescriptions for a

Controlled Drug The prohibition of drugs through sumptuary law, sumptuary legislation or religious law is a common means of attempting to prevent the Recreational drug use, recreational use of certain intoxicating substances. While some drugs are illegal to p ...

to be prescribed on specified paperwork, the FP10PCD. A patient usually has to pay a fee to a private practice doctor, and then pay the dispensing pharmacy for the medicine; the price may be more or less than the standard NHS prescription charge. The charge for the medication is based on cost price and markup, as is usual in retail, plus a dispensing fee. The NHS prescription charge in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

is a standard fee which is not related to the cost of the drug or quantity supplied; there is no charge for NHS prescriptions in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

, or

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

Electronic Private Prescriptions

In the UK, a private prescription does not need to be handwritten and can be created electronically. Prescribers can create regulatory compliant electronic private prescriptions using the official system Clynxx or other regulatory compliant systems. For a prescription to be compliant as an electronic prescription, it must meet the requirements set in The Human Medicines Regulations 2012. As of 23 November 2021, Schedule 2 and 3 controlled drugs cannot be prescribed electronically for private prescriptions and must be prescriped on the NHS issued FP10PCD (pink forms) which must be submitted to the NHSBSA ''"no later than the fifth day of the month following which they were supplied."''

References

{{Cite web, title=Private controlled drugs {{! NHSBSA, url=https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/pharmacies-gp-practices-and-appliance-contractors/submitting-prescriptions/private-controlled-drugs, access-date=2021-11-23, website=www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk Pharmacy in the United Kingdom