Pharmacies on the Isle of Man can now apply to dispense medicinal cannabis following a “successful” pilot scheme, the island's government announced last week (July 11).

Karsons Pharmacy in Onchan had the only licence on the island to dispense private prescriptions for cannabis-based products for medicinal use (CBPMs) in a year-long pilot scheme that began in December 2022, it said.

Read more: Widening access to medical cannabis

Lawrie Hooper, minister for health and social care on the island, said that the “successful pilot scheme demonstrated the local need for these private prescriptions and has paved the way for this more patient-centred approach”.

During the scheme, prescriptions were only accepted from Care Quality Commission (CQC) registered clinics based in England, but the Isle of Man’s Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) last week revealed that private prescribing clinics can also now apply to register as a CBPM prescribing clinic on the island.

CBPMs will not be available on an NHS prescription, only from private clinics, but Hooper said that access to more pharmacies and private prescribing clinics should “allow for a competitive marketplace that could reduce the cost of prescriptions” for patients.

DH asks for “patience”

 

The expansion means that patients will be able to choose their “most convenient” local pharmacies and clinics on-island for conditions that may need a medicinal cannabis prescription, according to Hooper.

“The intention is that this will improve the overall experience of patients, but [we] ask for patience as the registrations and applications are processed”, he added.

Read more: Use pharmacies to cut cost of private cannabis-based medicines, report says

More than 650 patients aged between 18 and 86 used the pilot scheme in the initial 12 months, with an average of 335 CBPMs dispensed each month that were mostly for chronic pain conditions, the DHSC said.

Hooper added that there had been “overwhelmingly positive feedback from those who used the pilot scheme” but the “cost of a private prescription and just a single point of access for dispensing were barriers”.

 

Pharmacy inspections

 

The DHSC stressed that to promote "patient safety", the licences will have conditions including that “prescriptions can only be written by a doctor on the General Medical Council (GMC) specialist register”.

Inspections of prescribing clinics will take place annually, while for pharmacies this will occur every six months, it told C+D, adding that both clinics and pharmacies must provide regular reports on the number of patients, number of items dispensed and the conditions that prescriptions are written for.

Read more: Combatting medical cannabis confusion

Applications to dispense CBPMs opened last week (July 11) and will continue under a "business as usual" licensing and registration arrangement where interested pharmacies and clinics can apply at any time, the DHSC said.

A 2019 survey of 3,285 Isle of Man residents and organisations by the DHSC revealed that “only 0.8% of respondents were not in favour of the introduction of medicinal cannabis” and “95% would support the cultivation and manufacture of medicinal products in the Isle of Man subject to a suitable regulatory framework”.

Read more: DH lifts import restrictions to improve access to cannabis medicines

In the UK, patients have been able to obtain prescriptions for medicinal cannabis since 2018 although C+D reported that private prescriptions are far more common than an NHS prescription.

NHS England (NHSE) told C+D yesterday (July 17) that any pharmacy in the UK can order medicinal cannabis, but unlicensed products are not kept in stock and are only ordered once a named patient prescription has been obtained from a doctor on the specialist register.

It added that any pharmacy can order licensed cannabis-based products if they have a suitable prescription, but are only likely to keep them in stock if they have regular patients taking them.