Legal responsibility for issuing prescriptions ultimately lies with the person signing the prescription. This means that sometimes when a specialist recommends a medication, we may not be able to issue you a prescription and that the prescription will need to be provided by the specialist.

There are, however, certain medications provided under “Shared Care Agreements”. These allow us to prescribe under a strict set of guidelines. They are NHS documents that have been through a rigorous development process to ensure total clarity as to where GP and Specialist responsibilities lie regarding review appointments, safety monitoring and ongoing prescribing.

Medications covered by these Shared Care Agreements include:

• Specialist medications for Rheumatoid Arthritis
• Specialist medications for certain skin conditions
• Specialist medications for ADHD

These are formal arrangements which should be signed by both GP and Specialist where Shared care is felt to be appropriate by both parties. 

We cannot enter into Shared Care Agreements with private providers so if you see a private specialist you must always get their prescriptions for this type of medication from that specialist.

Shared care agreements also place responsibilities on patients, if you do not attend the required appointments with your GP and Specialist then we will no longer be able to continue to prescribe for you.

When patients join our practice and they have been receiving prescriptions for a specialist medication from their previous practice, and there is no ongoing shared care agreement in place we assess these cases on an individual basis. Generally, provided we feel it is safe to do so we will continue to prescribe this medication whilst we arrange for you to see an NHS Specialist and a Shared Care Agreement is put in place. If you have been receiving a medication suggested by a private Specialist we will need to refer you to the local NHS Service so we can have a valid Shared Care Agreement put in place. If you are unwilling to engage with this referral we will be unable to prescribe this medication for you.

July 2024