C+D last week reported that regulatory amendments will permit original pack dispensing (OPD) for pharmacists in England from January.

Pharmacists will be able supply patients with a drug in its “original outer packaging” even if the quantity dispensed is different to that specified on a prescription, according to the new regulations.

Read more: Pharmacist original pack dispensing permitted from January

But the quantity of the drug dispensed in its original packaging must be within 10% either way of the quantity on the prescription.

Community pharmacy workers took to social media over the weekend to share their views on the news.

 

"Best news ever"

 

One Facebook user called it “the best news ever”, while it prompted a lively discussion on a “Pharmacy UK” Reddit forum.

The forum saw one commenter say that the reforms would save them “a ton of time counting everyone's tablets”, as well as making “life easier for patients” who will no longer have blisters of pills in “twos and fours loose in a white box”.

“It would cost more for the NHS but save me a ton of time and money”, they added, while a fellow user said that they “waste so much time” cutting small numbers of tablets out of packs that “just go to waste”.

Read more: Pharmacists to supply sodium valproate in whole original pack, DH confirms

“The amount of split packs on the shelves of my pharmacy is insane…if I never have to split a pack again in my life, I'll die happy,” they added.

But some Reddit users questioned whether the change is being introduced to “prep for” automated dispensing.

“Let’s be real, they’re only doing this because it benefits the automated dispensing industry,” one said, adding that they “[wouldn’t] be surprised if there was significant lobbying going on from big tech pharma”.

 

Reduced “drama”

 

Some suggested that the reform may help reduce patient complaints, with one Reddit user revealing that their pharmacy “had a phone call from a GP surgery” letting them know of a patient complaint “for always giving them split boxes for their medication that is 28/30”.

“I was pretty annoyed about that…original pack dispensing will save us that kind of drama,” they said.

Read more: Pharmacy technicians allowed to supply drugs under PGDs from this month

One pharmacist said that “it also saves some poor soul from getting a box of shrapnel once in a while” and a Reddit commenter highlighted that OPD is already in place in Scotland and is “a whole lot easier”.

“It annoyed me so much when I did a year in England, [it] just added so much time to a check having to count the little snippets”, they said.

 

“A long time coming”

 

But one of the most frequent comments from social media users revolved around the regulatory amendment taking too long to be introduced.

One community pharmacist said on X (formerly Twitter) that it is “about 30 years too late”, while locum pharmacist Keith Long commented on LinkedIn that “it has only taken 40-odd years!”

And Wicker Pharmacy’s Martin Bennett said he remembered “this being first proposed by Victor Hammond in 1970” and called for “patience”.

Read more: Pharmacist-run private clinics to be regulated in Scotland from June 19

“You don’t have to be in a mad rush in the pharmacy world to see things progress. The other motion he proposed at that meeting was for an NHS repeatable prescription - which took almost as long to arrive”, he added.

On LinkedIn, independent prescriber Kyle Cromery welcomed the “good move”, which he said had been “a long time coming”.

Read more: ‘Level playing field’: Hub and spoke possible for all pharmacies from January

“I spent the best part of 15 years in community pharmacy and the amount of…medication information lost by decanting into plain white boxes and time wasted managing split boxes etc. was ridiculous because the regulations were so rigid regarding quantity supply,” he added.

In March last year, the government published the outcome to its consultation on original pack dispensing (OPD) and on whole pack dispensing of medicines containing epilepsy and bipolar disorder treatment sodium valproate.

It said at the time that there was “significant support” for OPD flexibilities, although consultation responses raised various concerns.