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Patients to get quicker access to medicines

  • Published date:
    4 May 2001

Patients are to get quicker and more efficient access to healthcare after Health Minister Lord Philip Hunt today gave the green light for more nurses to prescribe a wider range of medicines.

The first nurses are likely to complete training in Spring 2002, and atotal 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:

  • Minor injuries such as burns, cuts or sprains;
  • Minor ailments such as hayfever or ear infections;
  • Promoting healthier lifestyles,such as providing vitamins for women planning pregnancy;
  • 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."

The proposal to extend the prescribing responsibilities of nurses to cover a wider range of medicines and to other types of nurses received strong support following wide-ranging consultation.

After a period of training, carefully designed to ensure patient safety, independent nurse prescribers will be able to prescribeall General Sales List and Pharmacy medicineswhich 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, this week the 20,000 nurses prescribing under current arrangements were 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 said:

"We know that 70 per cent of smokers want to give up and the changes enacted this week will give patients quicker access to the help they need. It will help make better use of the skills of a number of nurse prescribers who run smoking cessation clinics and is another important building block in developing a comprehensive smoking cessation service."

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.

"Together these changes will help deliver a key part of the NHS Plan, helping to break down barriers between professions and encouraging greater team working. Patients will certainly benefit," Lord Hunt added.

Notes to editor

  1. 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.
  2. Consultation on extending independent nurse prescribing began on 25 October 2000 and ended on 10 January 2001. Over 900 responses were received to the consultation - the majority expressed strong support for change.
  3. Presently over 20,000 district nurses, health visitors and some practice nurses holding these qualifications have trained to prescribe from the current Nurse Prescribers' Formulary. This decision will allow other types of nurses to train as prescribers and widen the range of medicines they prescribe. Current nurse prescribers will continue to be able to prescribe from the existing formulary and many will be eligible for further training.
  4. Steps will be taken to allow supplementary prescribing by nurses and prescribing by other professions such as pharmacists after the Health and Social Care Bill is enacted. Clauses in the Bill will enable Ministers to introduce new types of prescriber, who will be responsible for the continuing care of patients who have already been clinically assessed by a doctor.The Health and Social Care Bill passed [DN] its 3rd Reading in the House of Lords on 3 May.
  5. Health Minister Yvette Cooper announced in March that NRT products would be available on prescription from GPs (Press Release 2001/0130 refers). The regulations came into force on April 17. From 1 May, the list of medicines current nurse prescribers are able to prescribe was extended to include NRT. They will not be required to undergo additional training to prescribe NRT.
  6. 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.
  7. Media inquiries: Richard Forshaw 020 7210 5649.
  • Contact:
    Press officer
  • Address:
    Media Centre, Department of Health
    Richmond House, 79 Whitehall
    London
    SW1A 2NL
  • Phone:
    Media Centre
    020 7210 5221

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