PGD legislation and care homes
Care homes cannot use PGDs to supply or administer any medicines. This is not within the legislation.
The MHRA has stated that: ‘PGDs do not extend to independent and public sector care homes or to those independent sector schools that provide healthcare entirely outside the NHS’.
An NHS body or local authority cannot authorise a care home to operate under a PGD for the supply or administration of medicines.
Administering PGD oseltamivir supplied under a PGD
The situation is different where oseltamivir is supplied under a PGD by an NHS commissioned provider (e.g. an NHS community services Trust) and is supplied for subsequent administration by care home staff. This is permitted provided the relevant governance arrangements are in place.
Further information
Delegation of supply or administration of medicines using a Patient Group Direction
This page details the why delegation of supply or administration under a PGD is not possible.
Update history
- Content reviewed and updated.
- Minor formatting updates
- Published