Neal Patel, head of corporate communications at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS), spoke to The
Independent to express the RPS’s concern over online sales of antibiotics.
In a recent report, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) advised that some UK-based online prescription services pose a risk to patient safety through their failure to make necessary checks and provisions. Two UK sites recently lost their registered status as a consequence of CQC inspections. The Independent article covered this news, and also highlighted the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s disquiet over the huge number of medicine-selling sites operating illegally worldwide.
“Until we see standards that replicate [the] consultations people experience face to face, we don’t think that antibiotics should be available online,” Patel said. His comments align with those made by Sandra Gidley, chair of the RPS English Pharmacy Board, to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme broadcast on 3 May 2017.