Prescribing plans extended for nurses and pharmacies

Nurses and pharmacists have been given greater powers to prescribe drugs, under new plans announced by the government.

From next Spring, qualified Extended Formulary nurse and independent pharmacist prescribers will be able to prescribe any licensed medicine for any medical condition, with the exception of controlled drugs.

However, the plans have been branded as “irresponsible and dangerous” by the British Medical Association.

The extension means that specialist nurses running diabetes and coronary heart disease clinics would be able to prescribe independently for their patients.

Pharmacists will also be able to prescribe treatments for conditions such as high blood pressure and diabetes.

The government claims that this would help take pressure off GPs, allowing them to focus on more complex cases and improve the availability of care for patients.

Announcing the plans, Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt, said: "Today's announcement means that the young person wanting to control their asthma or the terminally ill patient being cared for at home by a multi-disciplinary healthcare team will soon find it easier and more convenient to get the medicines they need. This is another step towards a truly patient-led NHS, giving patients the power to choose where and by whom they are treated."

Chief Nursing Officer Christine Beasley said: "Nurses are the biggest single staff group in the NHS and they have already demonstrated that they are safe, careful and professional prescribers. Pharmacists have wide knowledge of medicines and the effects they have on people. This knowledge is invaluable to their colleagues and to patients.

"With these extended prescribing powers, nurses and pharmacists will be able to improve choice for patients and enable more flexible team working within the NHS.”

Nurses and pharmacists will have to complete the relevant training courses and have the qualifications noted on the professional register, in order to be able to prescribe drugs.

The prescribers will also have to work within their employers’ clinical governance frameworks and they will be accountable to both their employers and their regulatory bodies for their actions.

However, the BMA has condemned the plans. Dr Hamish Meldrum, Chairman of the BMA GPs Committee, said: "While we support the ability of suitably trained nurses and pharmacists to prescribe from a limited range of medicines for specific conditions, we believe only doctors have the necessary diagnostic and prescribing training that justifies access to the full range of medicines for all conditions.

“This announcement raises patient safety issues and we are extremely concerned that the training provided is not remotely equivalent to the five or six years training every doctor has undertaken."

Dr Paul Miller, Chairman of the BMA Consultants' Committee, added: "This is an irresponsible and dangerous move. Patients will suffer. I would not have me or my family subject to anything other than the highest level of care and prescribing, which is that provided by a fully trained doctor."

(KMcA/SP)