Increase in range of nurse prescribing

Citation

(2001), "Increase in range of nurse prescribing", International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, Vol. 14 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijhcqa.2001.06214eab.003

Increase in range of nurse prescribing

Increase in range of nurse prescribing

In May UK Health Minister Lord Philip Hunt approved plans for more nurses to prescribe a wider range of medicines.

Training will be provided, and the first nurses are likely to complete training in Spring 2002; a total of around 10,000 nurses are expected to have undergone training by 2004. They will be able to prescribe treatments for a broader range of medical conditions, including:

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  minor injuries such as burns, cuts or sprains;

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  minor ailments such as hay fever or ear infections;

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  promoting healthier lifestyles, such as providing vitamins for women planning pregnancy; and

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  palliative care.

Minor injuries and ailments comprise up to 30 per cent of GP consultations and this move will offer real scope to reduce GPs' and hospital doctors' workload. Lord Hunt said:

"This is a crucial step forward in our efforts to give patients better and quicker access to the medicines they need. It will also make better use of nurses' skills and free up doctors' time allowing them to deal with more serious cases.

"We have allocated £10 million between 2001 and 2004 to train more nurses to prescribe. Discussions are already underway with the English National Board for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting and education providers, and we aim to have training programmes in place by the end of this year."

After a period of training, carefully designed to ensure patient safety, independent nurse prescribers will be able to prescribe all General Sales List and Pharmacy medicines which are prescribable by doctors under the NHS, together with a list of Prescription Only Medicines (POMs) linked to specified medical conditions. There will be consultation on adding a list of POMs by the Medicines Control Agency later this year.

In addition, the 20,000 nurses prescribing under current arrangements were to be allowed to begin prescribing nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) products such as nicotine patches, gum and inhalers – previously only available from pharmacies or more recently from GPs on prescription.

Lord Hunt also announced that the Government intends to take steps to allow "supplementary" prescribing by nurses, allowing them, after initial assessment by a doctor, to treat more complex medical conditions and chronic disease, including asthma, diabetes, hypertension and coronary heart disease, as well as mental health.

These changes follow the Government's acceptance in March last year of the main recommendations of the Review of Prescribing, Supply and Administration of Medicines. This commitment was reinforced in the NHS Plan, published in July 2000. The Government also intends that by later this summer, nurse prescribers working in the community will be able to prescribe the same range of appliances and dressings as GPs.