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Practical dispensing
No prescription fee for scripts originating from Northern Ireland
Dr Allan Tennant
15th of July 2010
From 1 August 2010, any patient who presents an NHS prescription form originating from Northern Ireland (coded HS21CS) will not pay a prescription charge for any items on that form that are dispensed in England.
Following the abolition of prescription charges in Northern Ireland on 1 April 2010, a new prescription form (coded HS21CS) has been produced in Northern Ireland and this is now in circulation. The form does not include a tick box and declaration section on the reverse of the form, but does include a signature box for those collecting controlled drugs.
The previous version of the Northern Ireland prescription form may be in circulation for the time being. Both versions of the forms must be dispensed without collecting prescription charges. A patient or patient representative signature is not required on either version of the form (except in the case of schedule 2 & 3 controlled drugs when a collector's signature is still required).
The DH will be updating the August Drug Tariff to include a notice in Part XVI and will publicise this change on the NHS BSA website.