Drug Status

The Drug Status is shown on the second line on the bottom section of the Select Drug screen. The following can be displayed:

NHS: NHS prescribable. The drug is allowable under the NHS and prints on the left hand side of the computerised FP10 in England & Wales, GP10 for Scotland and HP10 for Northern Ireland.

DOH approved: NHS prescribable and preferred by the DOH.

Discontinued: No longer allowable as an NHS prescription. Only displayed if the Discontinued box is ticked in the top right of Select Drug, and indicated by a small d in the left-hand margin of a drug dictionary listing.

Black Triangle: Report all adverse or unexpected reactions, however minor, to the CSM using yellow cards.

ACBS: Advisory Committee on Borderline substances for special category patients, eg malabsorption preparations, gluten free food for gluten sensitive patients. The prescription will print ACBS in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, ACBS will also be printed when eCMS is released.

Non NHS: This cannot be prescribed on an NHS prescription and will therefore be a private prescription, printing on the right-hand side (see Private Prescriptions).

Contraceptive: Oral contraceptives, will print on separate NHS prescriptions to non-contraceptive items.

Secondary Care: Some items that are normally prescribed in secondary care are available to prescribe in Vision. A warning message is also displayed when adding the item to the patient record.

Imported: Some imported items are available to prescribe in Vision and may not be available to the dispenser. A warning message is also displayed when adding the item to the patient record.

Must Use Brand: This should always be prescribed in its brand form.

Must Use Generic: This should always be prescribed in its generic form.

Brand Recommended:It is recommended that the brand be prescribed but you are still able to continue with generic prescribing.

Generic Available:Generic equivalents are available but you are still able to continue with generic prescribing.

External: The words For External Use Only will be printed after the dosage instructions.

Personally Administered: This is a practice administered item dispensed within the practice, for example, injections.

One item: one item per script, particularly referring to Oxygen

Schedule: Details for controlled drugs are listed here. Storage instructions are also given here.

SLS: Selective List Scheme drug items (Schedule 11), which can only be prescribed for particular patients needing particular treatment. The prescription must be endorsed S3B. For example, carbocisteine for a patient under 18 who has undergone a tracheostomy; clobazam for any patient with epilepsy etc.