Pharmacy News
Dispensing error protection comes into force
Following a pretty long campaign from the profession, protection has now been introduced from 16 April legally covering UK community pharmacists from criminal prosecution for inadvertent dispensing errors. The Royal Pharmaceutical Society described this as “excellent news” but said more must be done to extend protection to pharmacists working in other care settings. The legal defence, Pharmacy (Preparation and Dispensing Errors—Registered Pharmacies) Order 2018, which applies to registered pharmacies throughout the UK, includes clauses stipulating that pharmacists are safe from prosecution if they can provide evidence showing they were unaware a dispensing error had been made, and they had taken appropriate steps to notify patients on becoming aware of an error.