Dangerous Drugs Citation, commencement and interpretation 1 1 These Regulations may be cited as the Misuse of Drugs (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2020 and shall come into operation on 30th April 2020. 2 The Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954 shall apply to these Regulations as it applies to an Act of the Northern Ireland Assembly. Amendment of the Misuse of Drugs Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2002 2 The Misuse of Drugs Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2002 are amended in accordance with regulations 3 to 5 below. Amendment of regulation 2 3 In regulation 2(2) after the definition of “health prescription” insert— “health service” means the general health services provided for in Part VI of the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1972 ; New regulation 10A 4 After regulation 10 (possession of drugs in Schedules 2, 3 and 4) insert— Directions of a practitioner while a disease is, or in anticipation of a disease being imminently, pandemic etc. 10A 1 For the purposes of regulation 10(2), the directions of a practitioner may be the directions of a pharmacist, which do not require a prescription, in the following circumstances— a as a consequence of a disease being, or in anticipation of a disease being imminently— i pandemic, and ii a serious risk or potentially a serious risk to human health, in order to assist in the management of the serious risk or potentially serious risk to human health, the Department has made an announcement in respect of the supply of drugs specified in Schedule 2, 3 or Part 1 of Schedule 4 as part of the health service; b as part of the announcement, the Department has issued advice to the effect that— i in the area to which the announcement relates, ii in the particular circumstances specified in the announcement, and iii during the period specified in the announcement, arrangements for the provision of services as part of the health service (“health service arrangements”) with a person lawfully conducting a retail pharmacy business may include provisions permitting the supply of drugs specified in Schedule 2, 3 or Part 1 of Schedule 4 in accordance with the directions of a pharmacist, provided that the supply is in accordance with regulation 226 or 226A of the Human Medicines Regulations 2012 ; c the person lawfully conducting a retail pharmacy business with whom the health service arrangements are made complies with the requirements of the arrangements in respect of the supply of drugs specified in Schedule 2, 3 or Part 1 of Schedule 4; and d the period specified in the announcement (taking into account any extension) has not ended and the announcement has not been withdrawn or amended in a way that means that the relevant provisions in the health service arrangements are no longer permitted by the announcement. 2 The period specified in the announcement, as mentioned in paragraph (1)(b)(iii), must initially not be for more than three months, but it may be extended for further periods of not more than three months at a time. . Amendment of regulation 15 5 In regulation 15 (form of prescriptions), after paragraph (3), insert— 4 For the purposes of paragraph (1)(g), if the intervals to be observed when supplying are changed by a pharmacist in the following circumstances, the changed intervals are treated as the intervals specified by the prescriber— a as a consequence of a disease being, or in anticipation of a disease being imminently— i pandemic, and ii a serious risk or potentially a serious risk to human health, in order to assist in the management of the serious risk or potentially serious risk to human health, the Department has made an announcement in respect of the supply of drugs specified in Schedule 2 or 3 as part of the health service; b as part of the announcement, the Department has issued advice to the effect that— i in the area to which the announcement relates, ii in the particular circumstances specified in the announcement, and iii during the period specified in the announcement, arrangements for the provision of services as part of the health service (“health service arrangements”) with a person lawfully conducting a retail pharmacy business may include provisions permitting pharmacists to change the intervals in prescriptions for drugs specified in Schedule 2 or 3 supplied under health service arrangements; c the pharmacist who changes the intervals— i is the person who is, for the purposes of regulation 16(1), the person who supplies the drug on the prescription; ii does so as part of and in accordance with health service arrangements to which the announcement relates; and iii does so with the agreement of the prescriber or, if the prescriber is unavailable, a person who is part of the same team responsible for treating the patient for whom the drug is prescribed as the prescriber, and who has been designated by the prescriber as a person who is able to agree this type of change if the prescriber is unavailable; and d the period specified in the announcement (taking into account any extension) has not ended and the announcement has not been withdrawn or amended in a way that means that the relevant provisions in the health service arrangements are no longer permitted by the announcement. 5 The period specified in the announcement, as mentioned in paragraph (4)(b)(iii), must initially not be for more than three months, but it may be extended for further periods of not more than three months at a time. . Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department of Health on 29th April 2020. (L.S.) Cathy Harrison A senior officer of the Department of Health