Temporary measures will apply to vets located in local lockdown areas.
The VMD has announced that vets may delegate the supply of veterinary medicines to wholesale dealers after 31 August 2020 “in exceptional circumstances”.
On Monday (3 Aug), the VMD announced a final extension to the temporary relaxation of the enforcement of the temporary retail supply measures to 31 August 2020. The measures were introduced in April in a bid to help veterinary practices meet the government's guidance on social distancing.
From 1 September 2020, however, veterinary premises located areas where the government has deployed local lockdown measures will be allowed to continue to supply veterinary medicines from a temporary location or via a wholesaler dealer. The measures also apply to veterinary surgeons or SQPs who need to self-isolate following a positive test for COVID-19 or due to contact tracing.
The VMD writes: 'In view of the continuing and unique challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, we have issued statements setting out temporary VMD enforcement policies in relation to specific obligations under the VMR. 'These policies allow, in exceptional circumstances, for relaxations concerning the temporary change of veterinary practice and SQP retailer premises and the arrangements for SQP remote prescribing and authorisation of supply to be applied after 31 August'.
Under the temporary enforcement policy, the veterinary surgeon must notify the VMD and the RCVS of the address of the premises they are temporarily working from. Controlled drugs must also continue to be appropriately stored in a suitable cabinet to prevent unauthorised access.
If relying on a wholesale dealer, the veterianry surgeon must provide the temporary address, together with their registration number and the RCVS VPP registration number for their permanenet address. The full statement on the temporary VMD enforcement policy can be found here.
Companies marketing medicines for small pets exempt from authorisation must submit their annual return to the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) by 30 November 2026.
