Hi All
Sorry I forgot to come back to you with this, below is the revised holiday script policy. It's gone through for ratification and should be live soon. Hopefully more flexible and an improvement on the last one, which wouldn't be very hard TBH
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Purpose
Everyone needs a break, and this policy helps people on MAT travel without disruption to their usual treatment.
Guidance for staff
On entering treatment (or transferring from a different provider) help people understand the process for travel prescriptions
Posters should be displayed in service user waiting areas. Posters can be ordered through Connect Marketing via your marketing champion.
Aim to get at least 4 weeks notice prior to travel and be flexible when this is not possible.
Ideally the service user should have had a recent medical review within the past 3-6 months, otherwise try and arrange this before travel.
Its important to see evidence of travel details, such as booking confirmation or transport tickets. This can help people avoid problems, such as going to places that have legal restrictions on the transport of certain types of medications.
Support people to check regulations relating to possession of controlled drugs within the country they are travelling to.
If on supervised consumption and travelling in the UK, continue this with a pharmacy at the destination. Contact the local pharmacy at destination to post prescription(s) following confirmation this is acceptable.
Prescriptions for travel abroad would not usually be suitable for people requiring daily supervised consumption, or whose drug use is unstable e.g. using regularly in a high-risk manner.
The risks of issuing a travel prescription to someone who does not exhibit stability need to be balanced against the risks of disengagement and/or travel without an authorised prescription
Safe storage and safeguarding are just as important when travelling, especially with children, so advice should be provided to those travelling with medication
If a person is travelling abroad then methadone can be given in tablet form. This makes it easier to comply with hand-luggage liquid restrictions on flights, and reduces the risk of spillage
Staff should inform the service user that lost travel prescriptions and or medications may not be replaced.
Requests for a holiday prescription to a country where the medication is known to be illegal will not be prescribed
In more complex cases where the risks to the individual or their dependents may appear to outweigh the benefits collaborative dialogue between the service user, their worker, and the clinical team is encouraged to achieve a satisfactory solution. Examples would include:
Where there are safeguarding concerns
For all injectable or non-formulary drugs.
For Travel Prescriptions over 14 days in duration.
Where there is harmful or binge pattern use of alcohol, diazepam and/or other benzodiazepines, pregabalin, gabapentin and other drugs which contribute to respiratory depression
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