These rules apply across the UK.
Check the medicine is on general sale
Medicines fall into three legal categories: prescription-only, pharmacy and general sale list (GSL). A medicine's marketing authorisation says which one it is, so the classification belongs to the product, not to your shop. GSL medicines are those the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) judges can be sold with reasonable safety without a pharmacist, such as small packs of painkillers and antihistamines for hay fever.
Pharmacy medicines and prescription-only medicines are outside this guidance. They can be sold only from a registered pharmacy, and prescription-only medicines only on a prescription. The General Pharmaceutical Council enforces the pharmacy rule.
Before you stock a product, confirm with your supplier or the manufacturer that it is on general sale.
Meet the conditions for selling
You may sell a GSL medicine outside a registered pharmacy only if you meet the conditions below.
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Check your premises
You must be the occupier of the premises, and you must be able to close them so that the public is excluded.
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Sell only sealed packs
Stock products that were made up for sale in their immediate and outer packaging somewhere other than your shop, and do not sell any pack that has been opened since. You cannot split a pack or sell loose doses.
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Present painkillers within the pack size limits
Aspirin, aloxiprin, paracetamol and ibuprofen products must be sold in a separate pack no larger than Schedule 15 allows.
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Keep other medicines out
Do not sell or offer for sale any pharmacy or prescription-only medicine.
Keep painkillers within the pack size limits
Schedule 15 to the Human Medicines Regulations 2012 limits how much of the product can be in one pack when you sell it. Each pack must be separate and individual. The limits are:
Sell from an automatic machine
You may not sell a medicine from an automatic machine unless it is on general sale. That leaves GSL medicines as the only medicines a machine can offer, and the conditions above still apply.
Know who checks and what you risk
Breaking the general sale conditions, or selling a medicine that is not on general sale from an automatic machine, is an offence. For a shop that is not a registered pharmacy, your council enforces these two rules, alongside the Secretary of State. The MHRA regulates medicines across the UK.
Legal basis
Primary legislation and key regulations
Read it on legislation.gov.uk (opens in a new tab) legislation.gov.uk