Community pharmacies in England have been told they should no longer provide antivirals for the prevention or treatment of influenza when patients present with a prescription.

In a bulletin sent yesterday (May 9) by chief pharmacist David Webb and chief medical officer Chris Whitty to recipients including NHS trusts, GP practices, community pharmacies and primary care networks, NHS England said that prescribers should no longer issue FP10 prescriptions for antiviral medicines such as neuraminidase inhibitors for flu treatment or prophylaxis, and that pharmacists should no longer supply the drugs.

This followed data from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) indicating that flu rates in the community have “returned to baseline levels,” said NHSE, adding that the advice “stands until we write again to re-commence prescribing and supply of antiviral medicines in primary care”.

The bulletin does not affect the prescribing of antivirals in hospitals, which may continue as normal.

Integrated Care Boards have been advised that where there are localised influenza outbreaks outside the usual flu season, they “will need to commission appropriate service to respond to such outbreaks by assessing exposed persons for treatment or prophylaxis and completing a patient specific direction for this purpose”. This is because these localised outbreaks fall outside the NHS General Medical Services contract (GMS).