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The Discharge Notification and Prescription forms, THB (MR) 26 / 26a / 26b or PMR166 / 167 are designed for discharging in-patients to order medicines and for immediate notification to General Practitioners. They must be used when discharging in-patients with medicines (including those situations where patients own medicines are returned to them on discharge).
26.1	Use a label to record identification details or hand print in BLOCK CAPITALS.
26.2	Insert name of hospital and ward.
26.3	Insert name of the GP practice which the patient is registered with followed by the full postal address.
26.4	Complete discharge details - date of discharge and address to which discharged.
26.5	Medicine Treatment - each line is a prescription and must contain -
	(i)	details of medicine i.e. name, strength form, dose
	(ii)	times of administration
	(iii)	number of days supply to be made for short courses of treatment
	(iv)	a stop date where appropriate
	(v)	any unused lines must be cancelled by scoring through
	All medicines must be listed. If only some of these are required to be dispensed then these must be indicated.
26.6	All medicines classified as Controlled Drugs must be prescribed in accordance with the legal requirements described in the BNF.
26.7	Complete the remainder of the form, including any other treatment and monitoring recommendations together with reasons for any changes to pre-admission medicines.
26.8	Indicate the time that medicines are required to be on the ward.
26.9	The form must be signed by the discharging physician, who must show his official clinical status and contact page number, and the name of the consultant for whom he is discharging the patient, together with the date of signing.
26.10	If medicines are required, the complete 4 part set must be passed to the Clinical Pharmacist, the pharmacy technician or sent to the Pharmacy Department, according to local arrangements, at least 24 hours prior to discharge whenever possible.
26.11	The medicines will be dispensed by the hospital pharmacy in appropriate quantities. Details of strength and quantity dispensed and where appropriate, information on the brand names will be entered by the pharmacy for the information of the general practitioner.
26.12	The copies of the prescription must be distributed to the General Practitioner, the case record and the pharmacy, according to local arrangements.
26.13	Prescribing for discharge or leave from hospital: Patient Information Cards
	A range of information cards are available locally e.g. it is preferable for patients receiving steroids to have recorded the details of their dosage on a Steroid Card. Similar cards are also available for patients on anticoagulant therapy etc. Such cards will be provided by the pharmacist as part of the discharge medicines package. They must be handed to the patient on discharge who must be instructed to carry the card at all times.
26.14	Prescribing for discharge or leave from hospital: Leave Prescriptions
	In situations where patients go out on leave and require medication for the period, this shall be provided by the hospital pharmacy. Medicines will be supplied using the Discharge Notification and Prescription forms, THB (MR) 26/26a/26b or PMR 166/167. Within Mental Health Services such medicines shall be prescribed on the Leave Prescription Sheet THB (MR) 28 (Rev) signed by the authorising clinician. In addition to the prescription details set out above, the specific times and dates over which medicines are required must be stated.