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The Non-Medical Prescribing Programme
The non-medical prescribing programme gives patients quicker access to medicines, improves access to services and makes better use of nurses’, pharmacists’ and other health professionals’ skills
Latest updates
6 January 2010: Changes to medicines legislation to enable Mixing of Medicines prior to administration in Clinical Practice
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has now put in place changes to medicines regulations to enable mixing of medicines prior to administration in clinical practice, effective from 21 December 2009. Please see the attached document to understand how this impacts on the NHS.
24 November 2009: High quality care for all: Making the connections
The use of Non Medical Prescribers allows a range of healthcare professionals to contribute to service improvement and efficiency in many ways. The attached document, produced by NHS Yorkshire and Humber, gives examples of how it can help deliver a range of clinical services.
10 August 2009
23 March 2009
27 February 2009: New programme of support for non-medical prescribing
Read about the appointment of 2 new national advisors who will support the National Prescribing Centre in promoting and supporting the continued development of non-medical prescribing
5 May 2008: Case Studies
Nurse and pharmacist prescribing is a valuable tool to deliver patient care in a variety of settings. To help the NHS to understand how non-medical prescribing can help to deliver services, the Department of Health commissioned Primary Care Contracting to produce 6 nurse prescribing and 6 pharmacist prescribing case studies
Nurse independent prescribing
From May 2006, qualified Nurse Independent Prescribers (formerly known as Extended Formulary Nurse Prescribers) can prescribe any licensed medicine for any medical condition within their competence, including some Controlled Drugs.
Pharmacist independent prescribing.
From May 2006, a new category of prescriber - the "Pharmacist Independent Prescriber" was created. Once qualified, Pharmacist Independent Prescribers are able to prescribe any licensed medicine for any medical condition within their competence, with the current exception of Controlled Drugs
Supplementary prescribing
To improve access to medicines and to help ease the burden on doctors, the Department is training nurses, pharmacists and some Allied Health Professions (AHPs) (physiotherapists, chiropodists/podiatrists and radiographers) so that they can prescribe certain medicines, within an agreed Clinical Management Plan.
Prescribing and supply of medicines by optometrists
Optometrists are, from early 2009, able to train as optometrist independent prescribers and to use Level 2 exemptions for sale and supply of medicines. Please see the GOC Handbook for the accreditation of therapeutic programmes / assessment for optometrists.
Scope of guidance - position in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
The guidance available on this website applies to England only. Although the legislation that permits the extension of prescribing responsibilities applies across the UK, it is for the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to decide whether and how it is implemented for the NHS in their countries. For further information please refer to the following websites:
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