Hospital Pharmacist
Vol 9 No 10 p283
November 2002

News summary

Pharmacists given official right to prescribe from next year

Pharmacists will be allowed to prescribe medicines on the National Health Service from next year, and nurses will be able to prescribe a wider range of medicines, the Department of Health announced on 21 November.

The DoH says that the move follows widespread consultation on supplementary prescribing (The Pharmaceutical Journal 2002;269:593).

The announcement was made by Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Lord Hunt, at Guy's Hospital, London. He said: "This move has real potential to provide better and quicker patient care, and to make much better use of highly skilled pharmacists and nurses by giving them delegated powers to prescribe drugs to patients in partnership with general practitioners or hospital doctors. Staff will undergo comprehensive training and we aim to have up to 1,000 pharmacists and up to 10,000 nurses trained by the end of 2004."

Training for pharmacists will begin in the spring. The DoH says: "The obvious candidates in the short term will be pharmacists who already have close links with doctors, such as those working in health centres or GP surgeries, or hospital pharmacists."

Commenting on the new development, Tony West, chief pharmacist, Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital NHS Trust, London, said: "This will help improve patient access to medicines, and increase the opportunity for patients to get advice about their medicines. This extended role ensures the NHS makes the best use of key professional staff by forging stronger partnerships between doctors and pharmacists in full collaboration with the patient."

Patients with asthma, diabetes, coronary heart disease and high blood pressure are likely to be among the first to benefit with quicker access to medicines, says the DoH.