The Home Office-approved wording for instalment dispensing of controlled drugs (CDs) continues to provide essential flexibility for prescribers and pharmacies, supporting patient care while accommodating practical challenges such as pharmacy closures and missed doses.

The instalment direction is a legal requirement and needs to be complied with. However, because there are acknowledged practical difficulties with missed doses and dates when the pharmacy is closed (e.g. bank holidays), the Home Office has approved specific wording to be used that gives pharmacists a degree of flexibility when making a supply and to ensure patient care is not compromised, provided pharmacists are satisfied of the prescriber's intention. 

An instalment direction combines two pieces of information and both must be included separately on prescriptions:

  1. Amount of medicine to be supplied per instalment
  2. Interval between each time the medicine can be supplied

Approved Wording: 

  • Please dispense instalments due on pharmacy closed days on a prior suitable day.
  • If an instalment’s collection day has been missed, please still dispense the amount due for any remaining day(s) of that instalment.
  • Consult the prescriber if three or more consecutive days of a prescription have been missed.
  • Supervise consumption on collection days.
  • Dispense daily doses in separate containers.

Using wording not approved by the Home Office may leave you without enforcement protection. Where possible, request prescribers to amend prescriptions to include the approved wording.

If the relevant Home Office approved wording is used, a pharmacy can:

  •  Supply an appropriate balance of an instalment if the interval date is missed (e.g. if three days’ supply was directed to be supplied on day one but it was missed, it allows two days’ supply to be issued on day two).
  • Supply treatment prior to the start date on a prescription, if this is on a day the pharmacy is closed, e.g. a bank holiday. If the start date falls on a day the pharmacy is closed, based on the pharmacist’s professional judgment a supply can be made on a prior suitable day, provided the signature date is before the start date and prior to the proposed supply date.

CD7 Instalment Dispensing of CDs SOP

Home Office Circular 027/2015 – Approved Mandatory Requisition Form and Wording