Nurses and pharmacists are to get greater powers to prescribe medicines to patients under plans announced by the UK Government today.
From spring next year, those qualified as Extended Formulary Nurse Prescribers and pharmacist independent prescribers will be able to prescribe any licensed medicine for any medical condition.
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 family doctors and allow them to focus on more complex cases.
Insider says: The ramifications of this change are hugely significant for Big Pharma. Within a year (or two at the most) doctors will be outnumbered by non-medical prescribers in the UK!
Source: The Independent
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