Market Pharmacy in Bolton is the first UK community pharmacy to become fully compliant with the Falsified Medicines Directive (FMD), the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) claims.

The pharmacy connected to the UK Medicines Verification System and, according to the NPA, is thought to be the first to have a product decommissioned and recommissioned. 

The pharmacy is part of the Hollowood Chemists group owned by Raj Patel, an NPA board member and chair of the UK FMD Working Group, who said: “There’s no need to wait until the FMD compliance deadline in February. My pharmacies wanted to make a start now, to uncover any implementation problems and resolve them ahead of time. I’m pleased to say that everything went smoothly.”

Market Pharmacy is using a ‘standalone’ scanner rather than one integrated with existing pharmacy software such as the PMR. The NPA is telling its members that while integrated products are likely to be more effective overall, the uncertainty surrounding the UK’s FMD commitments post-Brexit means that having a separate FMD process may be more attractive for some pharmacies.

Gareth Jones, head of corporate affairs at the NPA said: “The NPA is working hard to provide as much information on FMD as possible, to help members get prepared. With the clock ticking, we are advising members to start planning now and not to delay preparations.”

FMD becomes a legal requirement for UK pharmacies on 9 February 2019.