Print Acute Prescription

To print an acute prescription, or to reprint an issue of a repeat:

1. When you select OK to complete adding a new acute Therapy, the Drug Check Results screen is first displayed, followed by the Add Medication Link to Problem screen (see .
2. Display the Acute Therapy list. (you can use or press F4 function key).
3. Click on the Print icon , or press <F9> function key. <F9> can also be used anywhere within Consultation Manager without opening a Therapy window first, for instance when prescribing from a guideline. This records the patient as having had the prescription issued.

   The Print Therapy Add screen should be displayed (or Prescription Manager if you are using Advanced Printing).

   However, there are two messages which may be shown:

   • This patient has unprinted items dated before today... If you see this message, there are prescriptions dated before today’s date which are unprinted - refer Unprinted Prescriptions for the remedy.
   • This is a non-printable item... If you have selected a controlled drug, you may see a warning message - see Controlled Drugs.

   Print Therapy - You can either pause at this Therapy Print Records - Add screen to check the following, or skip to step 16 to printing. The Print Therapy - Add screens lists acute therapy items, issues of repeat therapy items, therapy advice, and (coming soon) repeat dispensing, each with their own icons.

   Note - You can sort the columns by type, date etc by clicking on the column header, eg Date, Drug/Advice, or Dosage.

   Authorised Signatory (previously called Doctor to sign prescription) - The GP here defaults to the GP who prescribed the item (see Date Prescribed, Prescriber, Source of Drug, Print Script). You may select a signing GP who may differ from the issuing or prescribing GP. The prescribing GP is determined by which GP is signed on. If in Consultation - Options - Setup - General, you have the option Print Signing GP Name ticked, then name of whichever doctor is selected in Authorised Signatory will print on the prescription (see Default Settings for Therapy). For registrars and assistants, who are set up in File Maintenance to use their responsible partner's GMP code, they should see their own name for items they have prescribed themselves.

   Note - Refer also to Prescription and Signer Selection which explains how nurse and GP prescriptions are managed.

   Print age - If you want to print the patient's age, click to select Print Age. The age of children under 12 years is printed automatically.

   Print reorder form - This is not relevant for acute prescriptions which always have a blank right-hand side of the prescription form, except where you have added Notes for Patients. See Issue Repeat Prescription .

   Drug labels - If you want to print the dispensing label at the same time as the prescription, make sure this box is selected. It will be automatically ticked if the patient is marked as Dispensing in Registration. If you want to check the caution code message associated with this therapy item, see Printing Dispensing Drug, Pack and Bag Labels and Caution Codes.

   Bag Labels - If you are a dispensing practice and want to print a non-drug-specific bag label to hold the patient's dispensed items, check the Bag Labels box. The default number of labels to be printed is set in Modules - Drug Label Design (see Dispensing Bag Label Design), but you can edit the number here.

   Print Reorder Form is not relevant for acute prescriptions. The Reorder Form is a list of valid repeats printed on the right-hand side of repeat prescriptions which the patient can use to order next month's repeats. On an acute prescription, the right-hand side of the prescription is blank. See Repeats Reorder Form.

   By default, all the acutes prescribed today will be listed, together with any repeats that are being issued. On the left of the list of drugs, there is a check box beside each therapy line. By default, each of these is ticked. Remove the tick from any item you do NOT want to print.

   The icon beside the drug line shows that it is an acute prescription.

   Removing items at this stage - Items can temporarily be removed from the print list by double clicking on an item so it is not marked > - unmarked items will not be printed.

   If an unprinted item does not appear in the print queue, click with the right mouse button and select Edit, and check that the Print Script option is selected on the Therapy Update screen.

4. Click on the Print icon to print the prescription, or press F9 function key again. The prescription is then printed. Rules are given in Prescription printing and regulations.
5. If you do not want to print, then using at this point will mark the therapy record as issue having been made, but no prescription printing will take place. This may be useful if you have handwritten a script, say, on a housecall.
6. The Setup button accesses the Vision Printer Profiles Setup. This is where the printers for prescriptions, drug labels, bag labels and specimen labels are set, together with details such as size of label, font etc.
7. The prescriptions will be printed first before the label(s).
8. If you are also printing dispensing labels, the Caution Code screen for each therapy item may then be displayed in turn. A Caution Codes is a warning message associated with that drug, eg Warning, May Cause Drowsiness, which will be printed on the dispensing label (see "Printing Dispensing Drug, Pack and Bag Labels and Caution Codes" on page -).
9. Click on Close if you are satisfied with each message. The dispensing labels will then be printed.
10. Finally, any pack labels will automatically be printed if the item is marked as P admin/dispensed (see Pack Size and Pack Labels).

    Note that when printing any of the following dangerous drugs, the signature area on the prescription form will be shaded in order to draw attention to it: methotrexate, penicillamine (125mg and 250mg), mercaptamine (50mg and 150 mg), mecaptopurine 50 mg tabs and 150 mg, co-proxamol sf susp 32.5mg + 325mg and co-proxamol tabs 32.5mg + 325mg, and dextropropoxyphene HCl with paracetamol tabs..