§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what new proposals she has to restrict the availability of medicinal drugs to children, following the recent survey carried out by the Pontefract and district community health council in respect of the purchase of paracetamol over the counter by children; and if she will make a statement.
§ Mr. MaloneNo new proposals are planned. Community pharmacists are under a clear obligation not to supply a medicine to a child unless satisfied that the product would be used safely or, if it is for another person the pharmacist must take steps to ensure that it will be delivered safely to an adult and appropriate information will be conveyed to the patient or responsible adult. Pharmacists are further advised that where a young child is sent to collect a medicine a pharmacist should be prepared to make arrangements for delivery to the home of the patient and ensure that advice is given on how the medicine should be properly used.
In addition, the pharmacy profession is introducing protocols for the sale of medicines in pharmacies from January 1 1995, which will ensure that patients using a pharmacy are referred directly to the pharmacist when their needs dictate. The advice to pharmacists from the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britian is that in all cases requests for medicines made by children should in future be referred to the pharmacist.