If a patient comes to me and asks to get vitamin D on the NHS, can you insist they get it over the counter? Dr Helen Cotton: Yes you can insist There is a simple answer to this and it’s that yes you can insist that patients obtain this over the counter. The recent PHE advice recommends that everyone considers taking a 10mcg vitamin D supplement in autumn and winter, and high risk groups take 10mcg all year round. The recommendation makes clear that this is not the same as treating vitamin D deficiency. Whilst the GMS contract stipulates that medicines are supplied on an FP10 where treatment is required, this is not a treatment area. Vitamin D for treatment of vitamin D deficiency requires an FP10, vitamin D to prevent deficiency does not. Current NICE guidance, although looking at high risk patients not total population prevention, is clear in not recommending that vitamin D be issued on an FP10. NICE recommends that health professionals issue the advice (akin to recommending reducing alcohol, taking folic acid, stopping smoking) and local authorities ensure vitamin D is available.
It suggests improving uptake of healthy start vitamins, encouraging pharmacies and supermarkets to stock low cost vitamin D supplements and a widespread education programme. Whether with current workload pressures you wish to spend time explaining the intricacies of why you aren’t issuing a prescription, making sure that all local GPs are doing the same and lobbying for vitamin D supplements to be available is a another matter. Until resources are in place to support you to decline the prescription you may opt to save time and issue a prescription. Dr Helen Cotton is a GP in Yeovil, Somerset Dr Natasha Usher: Don’t prescribe on the NHS unless the patient is deficient Recent recommendations from Public Health England state that everyone should take vitamin D supplements of 10mcg (400IU) in the winter months, although the evidence base for this is weak. Previous guidance[4] advised this for those at high risk; however, it advised doing this by making such supplements more readily available at cheap price via pharmacies - there is no mention of being prescribable on the NHS.
SMC guidance on vitamin D available on prescription (higher dose 800IU) is that it should be used for the prevention and treatment of vitamin D deficiency and as an adjunct to specific therapy for osteoporosis in patients with vitamin D deficiency or at risk of vitamin D insufficiency. It does state that this is too high a dose for general use (the only licensed preparations are at this dose), and that it requires monitoring as a prescription-only drug to prevent hypercalcaemia, especially with renal impairment. Therefore it follows that should you decide to prescribe vitamin D on the NHS to this patient, the only available dose is higher than recommended and requires some form of monitoring, increasing workload to the practice. This may be something that could change, should an appropriate preparation be made available for prescribing. However, at present, I would not prescribe to this patient on the NHS unless proved to be deficient. It would be worth discussing this with your partners, and the practice pharmacist if there is one, to ensure a consistent approach.
Dr Natasha Usher is a GP in Montifieth, near Dundee, Scotland Dr Katie Grant: There is no obligation to prescribe Updated public health guidance, such as the recent change in Vitamin D recommendations, may result in an increase in patients requesting prescription of products already available over the counter. GMC prescribing guidance outlines that you should prescribe medications ‘only if you have adequate knowledge of the patient’s health and you are satisfied that they serve the patient’s needs’. You will also have to consider any local formulary or prescribing guidance. If your CCG or practice has a policy regarding such requests, you can discuss this with the patient. When the patient presents to you with a diagnosis that requires treatment with vitamin D then you should provide the appropriate prescription. If your patient is eligible to receive free vitamin supplementation through schemes such as Healthy Start, you should encourage them to do so.
Otherwise, you may want to encourage the patient to take ownership of their health and self-care. If a patient asks you to prescribe vitamin supplementation you should explore their request, including advice relating to relevant lifestyle factors. You may also want to discuss the wide availability of low cost preparations from supermarkets and pharmacies, and encourage them to purchase supplements over the counter. If a patient is adamant about being prescribed vitamin D, absolute refusal to do so may see you enter in to unnecessary conflict or attract a complaint. In this situation, you should consider the specific reasoning behind the request, the individual’s health and needs, and work together to reach a mutually agreeable outcome. This, of course, does not include an obligation to prescribe medication that you consider would not be of overall benefit to the patient. Ultimately each request should be considered on an individual basis, seeking advice from colleagues as necessary.
Dr Katie Grant is a medicolegal adviser at Medical ProtectionThere are many vitamin and mineral supplements available. You can walk into almost any grocery store, and the have half an aisle dedicated to them (if not there own section), they are a big revenue source. There are even entire stores dedicated to supplements. Several years ago my sister came to visit me in NYC for a week and we were having a great time until her doctor called. They had gotten her bloodwork back and her iron levels were still low. They wanted to change her prescription to a higher dose, now not when she got home in a week.This sounded simple enough. She gave them the number to my local pharmacy and that was that. The pharmist said that since the medicine was avaialble over the counter that they couldn't fill the prescription. While iron supplements are available over the counter, they are in lower doses than what she was prescripped. We calculted the amount on the over-the-counter box the pharmasict told us to buy, and to get the amount of mg her doctor wanted, she would have been taking almost a third of the pills in one day!
Even after showing him this (and the warning on the box not to exceed 2 pills per day), he still wouldn't fill her prescription. After going around & around for almost an hour, her doctor decided that she should just double her current dosage until she got home.Maybe it the fact that she was out-of-town or it was an out-of-state doctor or maybe they just wanted her to buy the over-the-counter version instead, I don't know. I do know it wasn't becuase of her insurance, they never even asked to see it.In the years since, she has become plant-based and changed her medicine (although she is still anemic and must take iron pills daily). When we went to refill her prescription, you can imagine our surprse when the pharmist told us AGAIN that it was available over the counter. Although I think this was an attempt to get us to spend more money in the store, than actually refusing to fill it.After looking at the container on the shelf, it was the same pills that she has been getting and the same mg amount.