National Health (Pharmaceutical Benefits) Regulations (Amendment) (Cth)

Statutory Rules

1978 No. 153

REGULATIONS UNDER THE NATIONAL HEALTH ACT 1953*

I, THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL of the Commonwealth or Australia, acting with the advice of the Federal Executive Council, hereby make the following Regulations under the National Health Act 1953.

Dated this eighteenth day of August 1978.

ZELMAN COWEN

Governor-General

By His Excellency’s Command.

RALPH J. HUNT

Minister of State for Health

 

AMENDMENTS OF THE NATIONAL HEALTH (PHARMACEUTICAL BENEFITS) REGULATIONS 

Writing of prescriptions

1. Regulation 19 of the National Health (Pharmaceutical Benefits) Regulations is amended by omitting from paragraph (d) of sub-regulation (1) “ or the prescription is marked in accordance with regulation 20 ”.

Supply of pharmaceutical benefits on prescription

2. Regulation 21 of the National Health (Pharmaceutical Benefits) Regulations is amended by omitting from sub-regulation (1) “ regulation 22 ” and substituting “ regulations 22, 26 and 26a ”.

Repeat authorizations

3. Regulation 26 of the National Health (Pharmaceutical Benefits) Regulations is amended—

(a) by omitting from sub-regulation (1) “ (not being a prescription written upon an authority issued in pursuance of regulation 13 or regulation 14) ” and substituting “ ,or a duplicate prescription to which is attached a deferred supply authorization,”;

* Notified in the Commonwealth of Australia Gazette on 24 August 1978.

  Statutory Rules 1960 No. 17 as amended to date. For previous amendments see footnote on the second page of Statutory Rules 1978 No. 47 and see also Statutory Rules 1978 Nos. 47 and 142.

(b) by adding at the end of paragraph (a) of sub-regulation (2) “ or a deferred supply authorization ”; and

(c) by omitting from paragraph (b) of sub-regulation (2) “ repeat ”.

4. After regulation 26 of the National Health (Pharmaceutical Benefits) Regulations the following regulation is inserted:

Deferred supply authorizations

“ 26a. (1) Where a prescription contains a direction to supply more than 1 pharmaceutical benefit, the approved pharmaceutical chemist to whom the prescription is presented may, at the request of the person for whom the prescription is written, defer the supply of one or more of the pharmaceutical benefits.

“ (2) Where an approved pharmaceutical chemist defers the supply of a pharmaceutical benefit, he shall—

(a) prepare, in duplicate, a deferred supply authorization, on and in accordance with a form authorized by the Permanent Head, in respect of each pharmaceutical benefit the deferral of the supply of which is requested;

(b) mark on the deferred supply authorization prepared by him the number of his approval under the Act;

(c) in the case of a pensioner—mark on the deferred supply authorization the pension number marked on the prescription;

(d) mark on the original and duplicate of the prescription, across the wording relating to the pharmaceutical benefit the supply of which is being deterred, the words ‘ original supply deferred ’; and

(e) attach the original of the deferred supply authorization prepared by him to the duplicate of the prescription and issue them to the person for whom the prescription is written.”.

Retention of prescription, &c.

5. Regulation 32 of the National Health (Pharmaceutical Benefits) Regulations is amended by inserting after sub-regulation (1) the following sub-regulation:

“ (1a) An approved pharmaceutical chemist who issues a deferred supply authorization in pursuance of regulation 26a shall retain the duplicate of the deferred supply authorization in his possession for a period of not less than one year from the date of issue of the authorization.”.