§ The Countess of Marasked Her Majesty's Government:
To confirm that a dispensing doctor may issue a private prescription in addition to a statutory NHS prescription and that the products prescribed may be supplied by the doctor.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Baroness Cumberlege)There are no circumstances under which a National Health Service general practitioner would need to write both a NHS and private prescription for the same treatment. Where a patient is treated under the NHS, any prescription would normally also be written under NHS arrangements. However, where a NHS patient requests a private prescription, a GP is not precluded from providing one but may not charge a fee for so doing. A dispensing doctor many dispense an item under private arrangements to his own private prescription but would not in these circumstances be entitled to charge the patient nor to claim reimbursement or fees from the NHS, except in the limited circumstances specified in the NHS General Medical Services Regulations 1992.