New nursing prescription powers ‘dangerous’
Proposals to allow nurses and pharmacists to prescribe a far wider range of drugs have been condemned as “irresponsible and dangerous” by leading doctors.
Under the government’s plans suitably trained nurses would be allowed to prescribe almost any licensed medicine from spring 2006 and could do so without the supervision of a doctor.
At present nurses are only permitted to administer a limited number of medicines to deal with minor injuries and palliative care.
Health secretary Patricia Hewitt said the legislation would give patients quicker and more effective access to the treatment they needed, and described it as “another step towards a truly patient-led NHS”.
She said: “Extending prescribing responsibilities is an important part of our commitment to modernise the NHS.
“By expanding traditional prescribing roles, patients can more easily access the medicines they need from an increased number of highly trained health professionals.”
It would make it easier for patients such as asthma sufferers and those who are terminally ill to get the medicines they needed, Ms Hewitt added.
The announcement was greeted with enthusiasm by the Royal College of Nursing, who said it was “good news for nurses and most importantly it is good news for patients”.
General secretary Beverly Malone said: “This is something we have been campaigning on for over 20 years and the government must be applauded for taking this step.
“They [patients] will now get even better care and faster access to medicines, and research shows that nurse prescribing is safe, cost effective and popular with patients.”
But the move was condemned by the British Medical Association (BMA), who claimed it was both “irresponsible and dangerous”, and has now demanded a meeting with Ms Hewitt to discuss the proposals.
Dr Hamish Meldrum, chairman of the BMA’s GPs committee said the proposal “raises patient safety issues”.
He added: “While we support the ability of suitably trained nurses and pharmacists to prescribe from a limited range of medicines for specific conditions, we believe only doctors have the necessary diagnostic and prescribing training that justifies access to the full range of medicines for all conditions.
“We are extremely concerned that the training provided is not remotely equivalent to the five or six years training every doctor has undertaken.”
