Your guide to Pharmacy Law and Ethics
Detailed guidance on PGDs, enabling pharmacists to supply or administer medicines legally and effectively under authorized protocols.
Naloxone is a prescription-only medicine (POM) used to reverse opioid overdose. UK law provides specific statutory exemptions that allow naloxone to be supplied and administered without a prescription in defined circumstances.
The key provisions are in the Human Medicines Regulations 2012:
Water for Injection (WFI) is normally classified as a prescription-only medicine (POM) when intended for parenteral use. However, there is a specific statutory exemption that allows pharmacies to supply WFI without a prescription in defined circumstances.
This exemption is set out in Schedule 17 of the Human Medicines Regulations 2012:
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2012/1916/schedule/17/made
In limited circumstances, a pharmacy may supply certain prescription-only medicines (POMs) without a prescription, where a signed order is presented by a specified healthcare professional.
This is a specific statutory exemption under Schedule 17 of the Human Medicines Regulations 2012:
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2012/1916/schedule/17/made
Emergency supply allows a pharmacist to provide a medicine without a prescription in defined circumstances. It is a statutory exemption under UK medicines law and is commonly used in community pharmacy to ensure continuity of care.
Emergency supply is governed by the Human Medicines Regulations 2012:
Schools may legally obtain certain prescription-only medicines for emergency use without an individual prescription. This is a specific exemption under the Human Medicines Regulations 2012, not a general permission to supply POMs to schools.
The relevant legal provisions are in Schedule 17 of the Human Medicines Regulations 2012:
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2012/1916/schedule/17
Schedule 17 allows the sale or supply to a school of prescription-only medicines comprising:
A Vaccine Group Direction (VGD) is a new legal mechanism introduced into the Human Medicines Regulations 2012 to support the supply and administration of vaccines as part of approved vaccination programmes.
VGDs were introduced by the Human Medicines (Amendment) Regulations 2026, which came into force on 31 March 2026.
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2026/9780348278958/contents
Patient Group Directions (PGDs) are a statutory mechanism that allow the supply and/or administration of medicines to groups of patients without a prescription, provided strict legal requirements are met.
PGDs are defined in the Human Medicines Regulations 2012:
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2012/1916/contents
Key provisions:
Patient Specific Directions (PSDs) are a core legal mechanism used across UK healthcare to authorise the administration or supply of medicines to an individual patient.
Unlike Patient Group Directions (PGDs), PSDs are not explicitly defined in primary medicines legislation, but they are fully recognised in practice as part of the legal framework for administering medicines.
A PSD is:
