Consultation on independent prescribing starts
Independent prescribers will need to undertake additional training |
Options being considered
· No change
· Prescribing for certain conditions from a limited formulary
· Prescribing for any condition from a limited formulary
· Prescribing for specific conditions from a full formulary
· Prescribing for any condition from a full formulary
· A different approach for the different clinical settings
· A hybrid approach |
Consultation
on independent prescribing by pharmacists throughout the UK is being undertaken by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and the Department of Health, Health Secretary John Reid announced this week.
Pharmacists would receive additional training to take on such roles. “By
allowing fully trained pharmacists to prescribe independently we can
make better use of their considerable skills in pharmacology and therapeutics
and offer people a more accessible service,” Dr Reid said. The
consultation will also look at pharmacists taking on patient admission
and discharge reviews, acute pain management and medication reviews.
Nicholas Wood, President of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, said that
independent prescribing was a logical extension of pharmacists’ current
clinical role. “It will complement both the new community pharmacy
contract and the established clinical role undertaken by pharmacists
in secondary care,” he added.
“In secondary care, independent prescribing will enable pharmacists
to work more efficiently in many of the activities that they already
do,
such as admission and discharge review. It will also enable specialist
pharmacists to better contribute their specialist skills in areas such
as therapeutic drug level monitoring and parenteral nutrition.”
The National Pharmaceutical Association welcomed the consultation. “Pharmacists
already prescribe on a private basis, but the NPA has wanted an NHS prescribing
scheme for years,” John D’Arcy, the NPA’s chief executive,
said. “This will build on the supplementary prescribing and patient
group direction programmes already taking place. It will also bring benefits
in terms of access and anything we can do to improve access is important,” he
added.
Dr Reid’s announcement was also welcomed by hospital pharmacists.
Tony West, clinical director of Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS
Trust, London, said: “I am pleased that the announcement mentions
issues such as patient admission and discharge reviews, which we have
previously raised, and look forward to making a full and detailed response.”
Nigel Simmons, non-medical prescribing lead, Cambridgeshire, said that
pharmacists should not miss this opportunity. “The nursing profession
is clamouring for unlimited prescribing from an unlimited formulary,” he
said. “So if pharmacists do not go for that, we will be selling
ourselves short.”
“Pharmacists should also be able to deal with problems of prescribing
and supplying as dispensing GPs do,” Mr Simmons said, “and
they should also be able to handle pressures from drug companies as well
as, if not better than, GPs”.
The consultation is open until 25
May. |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal
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