Hi, wondering if anyone has any advice on how to obtain prescription / controlled drugs in UK to make up an emergency medical kit?  We are preparing for our qualifying voyage and are reluctant to purchase expensive  MSOS or similar kits just to obtain the drugs as we have most of the other stuff in the list already or in hand.  Our local GP services are struggling like much of the NHS and having difficulty processing an out of the ordinary request.  Grateful for any other tips or strategies others may have used. Or we will take some personal development time camping at the Surgery! Many thanks for your time.

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Peter.Merriman - 12 Apr 2023

Hi, wondering if anyone has any advice on how to obtain prescription / controlled drugs in UK to make up an emergency medical kit?  We are preparing for our qualifying voyage and are reluctant to purchase expensive  MSOS or similar kits just to obtain the drugs as we have most of the other stuff in the list already or in hand.  Our local GP services are struggling like much of the NHS and having difficulty processing an out of the ordinary request.  Grateful for any other tips or strategies others may have used. Or we will take some personal development time camping at the Surgery! Many thanks for your time.

Hi Peter, 
There is no “best way”: perhaps not even a good way. We have a friend who is a physician prescribe to our needs and go over their use with us. If traveling internationally, keep the prescriptions from your Dr. and it does not hurt to have a letter on his letterhead attesting that he prescribed the medications for use in remote situations where medical help is not available and that you have been trained in its use. Keep all prescription meds together and keep a “record” of their use on a sheet in the meds bag with dates, amount, symptoms etc. (perhaps also put in Ship’s Log).
Jury is still out for us as to how to answer “Do you have any drugs on board?”. We assume illegal drugs are being referred to and answer “no”. But that is silly as who would answer yes to illegal drugs. We know at least one skipper who answered “no” and the Russian dog sniffed out his prescription drugs some of whom held codeine (as does our offshore supply of meds). There was the fact of this un-declared controlled substance but more potently, the authorities felt they had been lied to.
My best, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy
Ps. More info may be found in the medical section of the Forum.

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Dick - 15 Apr 2023

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Peter.Merriman - 12 Apr 2023

Hi, wondering if anyone has any advice on how to obtain prescription / controlled drugs in UK to make up an emergency medical kit?  We are preparing for our qualifying voyage and are reluctant to purchase expensive  MSOS or similar kits just to obtain the drugs as we have most of the other stuff in the list already or in hand.  Our local GP services are struggling like much of the NHS and having difficulty processing an out of the ordinary request.  Grateful for any other tips or strategies others may have used. Or we will take some personal development time camping at the Surgery! Many thanks for your time.

Hi Peter, 
There is no “best way”: perhaps not even a good way. We have a friend who is a physician prescribe to our needs and go over their use with us. If traveling internationally, keep the prescriptions from your Dr. and it does not hurt to have a letter on his letterhead attesting that he prescribed the medications for use in remote situations where medical help is not available and that you have been trained in its use. Keep all prescription meds together and keep a “record” of their use on a sheet in the meds bag with dates, amount, symptoms etc. (perhaps also put in Ship’s Log).
Jury is still out for us as to how to answer “Do you have any drugs on board?”. We assume illegal drugs are being referred to and answer “no”. But that is silly as who would answer yes to illegal drugs. We know at least one skipper who answered “no” and the Russian dog sniffed out his prescription drugs some of whom held codeine (as does our offshore supply of meds). There was the fact of this un-declared controlled substance but more potently, the authorities felt they had been lied to.
My best, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy
Ps. More info may be found in the medical section of the Forum.

I neglected to say: some of these medications are expensive, but we choose to go widely wandering, so I believe that we should pay for these medications out of our own pocket. Dick

Dick, thanks for the response, advice and cautionary tale. We will keep at it! Peter

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Peter.Merriman - 12 Apr 2023

Hi, wondering if anyone has any advice on how to obtain prescription / controlled drugs in UK to make up an emergency medical kit?  We are preparing for our qualifying voyage and are reluctant to purchase expensive  MSOS or similar kits just to obtain the drugs as we have most of the other stuff in the list already or in hand.  Our local GP services are struggling like much of the NHS and having difficulty processing an out of the ordinary request.  Grateful for any other tips or strategies others may have used. Or we will take some personal development time camping at the Surgery! Many thanks for your time.

Success!  Replying to my own post with advice to others which I hope will be useful.  Firstly a thank you to Club Sec Rachelle Turk who first pointed out that in UK the Master and Owner of a ship are entitled to requisition drugs for medical kits.  I contacted the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (medical@mcga.gov.uk) who provided the necessary regulatory instruments. The Merchant Shipping (Medical Stores) Regulations 1995 states the regulatory requirements to meet Category A requirements as set out in Merchant Shipping Notice M. 1607 (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1085125/MSN_1905__M+F__Amendment_2_Ships__medical_stores.pdf);
to meet these regulation The Human Medicines Regulations 2012, contains Schedule 17 which provides a ship's Master the authority to requisition prescription only medication whilst the Misue of Drugs Act 1971 as amended (https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2001/3998/) provides the regulations for control, record keeping, use and disposal of controlled drugs by a Ship's Master.   Despite this my GP's surgery pharmacy was unable to supply drugs to me due to local NHS policies and I was very fortunate in speaking to the NHS prescription administration authorities who put me in touch with Andrew Hobson a senior pharmacist at Gompels Pharmacy in Melksham (andrew.hobson@gompels.com) who could not have been more helpful.  I needed to provide my RYA / DOT Certification and Ship's papers and it all became very easy.  Of course it should not be easy to obtained controlled drugs, but I do feel the process for sailors to obtain them where a legitimate need, not to say a regulatory requirement, exists the process should be less of a black art than it seems to be; it took me 4 months to navigate to this point and most people I have spoken to have relied upon 'GP friends' rather than an established system.  Again could be because I live 50 miles from the sea, or that I have made excessively heavy weather of the whole thing, but in case the above is of use it is, I believe the appropriate system.  And finally, to my great surprise my local Boots has since come back to me, after seeking advice from Head Office, and also offered to supply.  So perhaps it really is not that difficult after all! 

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Peter.Merriman - 16 May 2023

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Peter.Merriman - 12 Apr 2023

Hi, wondering if anyone has any advice on how to obtain prescription / controlled drugs in UK to make up an emergency medical kit?  We are preparing for our qualifying voyage and are reluctant to purchase expensive  MSOS or similar kits just to obtain the drugs as we have most of the other stuff in the list already or in hand.  Our local GP services are struggling like much of the NHS and having difficulty processing an out of the ordinary request.  Grateful for any other tips or strategies others may have used. Or we will take some personal development time camping at the Surgery! Many thanks for your time.

Success!  Replying to my own post with advice to others which I hope will be useful.  Firstly a thank you to Club Sec Rachelle Turk who first pointed out that in UK the Master and Owner of a ship are entitled to requisition drugs for medical kits.  I contacted the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (medical@mcga.gov.uk) who provided the necessary regulatory instruments. The Merchant Shipping (Medical Stores) Regulations 1995 states the regulatory requirements to meet Category A requirements as set out in Merchant Shipping Notice M. 1607 (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1085125/MSN_1905__M+F__Amendment_2_Ships__medical_stores.pdf);
to meet these regulation The Human Medicines Regulations 2012, contains Schedule 17 which provides a ship's Master the authority to requisition prescription only medication whilst the Misue of Drugs Act 1971 as amended (https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2001/3998/) provides the regulations for control, record keeping, use and disposal of controlled drugs by a Ship's Master.   Despite this my GP's surgery pharmacy was unable to supply drugs to me due to local NHS policies and I was very fortunate in speaking to the NHS prescription administration authorities who put me in touch with Andrew Hobson a senior pharmacist at Gompels Pharmacy in Melksham (andrew.hobson@gompels.com) who could not have been more helpful.  I needed to provide my RYA / DOT Certification and Ship's papers and it all became very easy.  Of course it should not be easy to obtained controlled drugs, but I do feel the process for sailors to obtain them where a legitimate need, not to say a regulatory requirement, exists the process should be less of a black art than it seems to be; it took me 4 months to navigate to this point and most people I have spoken to have relied upon 'GP friends' rather than an established system.  Again could be because I live 50 miles from the sea, or that I have made excessively heavy weather of the whole thing, but in case the above is of use it is, I believe the appropriate system.  And finally, to my great surprise my local Boots has since come back to me, after seeking advice from Head Office, and also offered to supply.  So perhaps it really is not that difficult after all! 

Thanks for posting your experience and the information you acquired. Most helpful!

+x

 

Peter.Merriman - 16 May 2023

+x

 

Peter.Merriman - 12 Apr 2023

Hi, wondering if anyone has any advice on how to obtain prescription / controlled drugs in UK to make up an emergency medical kit?  We are preparing for our qualifying voyage and are reluctant to purchase expensive  MSOS or similar kits just to obtain the drugs as we have most of the other stuff in the list already or in hand.  Our local GP services are struggling like much of the NHS and having difficulty processing an out of the ordinary request.  Grateful for any other tips or strategies others may have used. Or we will take some personal development time camping at the Surgery! Many thanks for your time.

Success!  Replying to my own post with advice to others which I hope will be useful.  Firstly a thank you to Club Sec Rachelle Turk who first pointed out that in UK the Master and Owner of a ship are entitled to requisition drugs for medical kits.  I contacted the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (medical@mcga.gov.uk) who provided the necessary regulatory instruments. The Merchant Shipping (Medical Stores) Regulations 1995 states the regulatory requirements to meet Category A requirements as set out in Merchant Shipping Notice M. 1607 (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1085125/MSN_1905__M+F__Amendment_2_Ships__medical_stores.pdf);
to meet these regulation The Human Medicines Regulations 2012, contains Schedule 17 which provides a ship's Master the authority to requisition prescription only medication whilst the Misue of Drugs Act 1971 as amended (https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2001/3998/) provides the regulations for control, record keeping, use and disposal of controlled drugs by a Ship's Master.   Despite this my GP's surgery pharmacy was unable to supply drugs to me due to local NHS policies and I was very fortunate in speaking to the NHS prescription administration authorities who put me in touch with Andrew Hobson a senior pharmacist at Gompels Pharmacy in Melksham (andrew.hobson@gompels.com) who could not have been more helpful.  I needed to provide my RYA / DOT Certification and Ship's papers and it all became very easy.  Of course it should not be easy to obtained controlled drugs, but I do feel the process for sailors to obtain them where a legitimate need, not to say a regulatory requirement, exists the process should be less of a black art than it seems to be; it took me 4 months to navigate to this point and most people I have spoken to have relied upon 'GP friends' rather than an established system.  Again could be because I live 50 miles from the sea, or that I have made excessively heavy weather of the whole thing, but in case the above is of use it is, I believe the appropriate system.  And finally, to my great surprise my local Boots has since come back to me, after seeking advice from Head Office, and also offered to supply.  So perhaps it really is not that difficult after all! 

Hi Peter,
Good on you!
What nice persistence: I hope there were not too many dead-ends.
And a nice detailed report.
I am not sure what a “ RYA / DOT Certification“ entails. Do you think you would have succeeded had you been a skipper/owner without the RYA / DOT Certification?
I ask as most/many US skippers (and I suspect some UK skippers) are “self-taught” and have no papers validating either competency as shown by training/experience and/or papers showing ability to commercially skipper a boat (a captain’s license for example).
My best, Dick