An F MED 296 form is a standard military prescription issued to a member of the Armed Forces instead of an FP10 when they’re on their base.
They should be presented to a specific pharmacy contracted to the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and handled in a similar manner to private prescriptions. An invoice for services is sent directly to the MOD rather than requiring the individual service person to pay.
An F MED 296 cannot be sent to NHS Prescription Services for payment. If sent, it will be disallowed and returned to the contractor.
MOD dispensing and prescribing sites must send their F MED 296 forms to NHS Prescription Services each month for data collection.
If an F MED 296 is presented to a non-contracted contractor, it should be treated as a private prescription and the person presenting it should pay full costs before receiving the medicine. It’s then up to individuals to recover any costs through their military unit, if entitled. This will depend on them having had prior authorisation to use a non-contracted pharmacy.
The MOD and military medical centres will not honour invoices raised directly by a non-contracted pharmacy without prior approval.
If the patient wants to get the prescription on the NHS, they will need to get it re-written by their GP. The usual prescription charges would apply unless they are exempt.