Doctors Wary As Nurses Get More Powers to Prescribe
Posted on: Friday, 11 November 2005, 15:00 CST
DOCTORS' leaders have called for an urgent meeting with Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt over plans to extend the prescribing powers of nurses and pharmacists.
The Government said that from next spring, those qualified as Extended Formulary Nurse Prescribers and pharmacist independent prescribers would be able to prescribe any licensed medicine for any medical condition.
The only exception will be for controlled drugs such as diamorphine.
But the move was branded "irresponsible and dangerous" by the British Medical Association (BMA). James Johnson, chairman of the BMA, said: "It is difficult to see how healthcare professionals who are not trained to diagnose disease can safely prescribe appropriate treatment.
"The BMA will be seeking assurances from the Government that patient safety will not be compromised by these changes."
The Department of Health said that the extension of prescribing powers would mean that specialist nurses running diabetes and heart disease clinics would be able to prescribe independently for local patients. This could mean helping patients control high blood pressure, quit smoking and manage their diabetes.
The DoH said this would take pressure off GPs and allow them to focus on more complex cases.
Qualified nurses have had prescribing powers for a number of years which have been gradually increased to include more and more drugs.
Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt told the Chief Nursing Officer's conference in London that extending prescribing responsibilities was an important part of the Government's commitment to modernising the NHS
Source: Daily Post; Liverpool
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