Find a Specials Ready pharmacy

When the medicine you need isn't off the shelf.

Some people can't take medicines the standard way — a child who can't swallow a tablet, someone who needs a liquid, a strength or a form that isn't made as a licensed medicine. These are called specials. A Specials Ready pharmacy can get them, properly and reliably. Find one near you.

Why some medicines are specially made

Everyone deserves their medicine — in the form their clinical needs require.

When a licensed medicine doesn't fit — a form they can't take, a strength that isn't made, an ingredient they can't have — a special is made or sourced to meet that exact clinical need. For the people who rely on them, a special isn't a luxury — it's a genuine clinical need, and the difference between taking their medicine and going without.

Specials are prescribed by your doctor or prescriber when they decide a licensed medicine won't meet your clinical needs — they aren't something to request yourself.

What it means for you

A Specials Ready pharmacy isn't just any pharmacy.

It's one equipped to look after the medicines that aren't simple:

What a Specials Ready pharmacy does

Sources specials reliably — properly, through licensed, quality-assured routes.
Keeps care going — the same preparation, consistently, without interruption.
Handles the paperwork and safety checks — so the medicine is right, documented and traceable.
Supports care homes — with the records, reliability and documentation that align with what CQC inspections look for.

In short — a pharmacy you can count on for the medicines that aren't simple.

For prescribers & care homes

A reliable specials route — and the records inspectors expect.

For prescribers

Refer with confidence. A Specials Ready pharmacy sources unlicensed specials through MHRA-licensed routes, with the documentation, safety checks and continuity your patients need.

Find one in your area using the search above.

For care home managers

Care-home medicines are closely governed. CQC and NICE guidance expect ordering reliable enough that residents never run out, complete and accurate records, and proper handling when someone can't take a medicine the usual way. A Specials Ready pharmacy supports all three:

Reliable, gap-free supply — so a resident's treatment isn't interrupted while a made-to-order medicine is awaited.
Records that stand up to inspection — certificates, traceability and documentation for every special, supporting your MAR and medicines records.
A safer route than crushing — CQC guidance notes that crushing a tablet or opening a capsule to give it can make the medicine ‘off-licence’: it can change how the medicine works and increases the responsibility on the people giving it. Where a resident can't swallow, a properly-made special — the medicine prepared in a form they can actually take — can be a safer, fully-documented alternative, decided with pharmacist and prescriber advice.

Dependable medicines for your residents, and the paperwork your inspection expects.

Based on CQC medicines guidance.