Background of Supplementary Prescribing
Supplementary Prescribing refers to the form of prescribing that can be undertaken by any certified non-medical health professional which includes nurses, pharmacists and midwives. The supplementary prescribing or SP is a completely new approach to medical prescription. The Social Care Act (2001) enables ministers to designate new categories of prescribers by order under a given set of conditions. SP will be undertaken only after a doctor or a certified medical practitioner have made a diagnosis and have designed the Clinical Management Plan or CMP for the patient (Pharmaceutical Journal, 2018).
The article published in the Pharmaceutical Journal on 30th of June, 2006, were reports regarding the legalization of Independent Prescribing which enables pharmacists to prescribe medicine without the necessity of the clinical management plan or the CMP. The major concerns raised post legalization of independent prescribing included the relevance of supplementary prescribing with the advent of independent prescribing. Mr. Griffiths, the joint prescribing adviser at the royal college of nursing addressed the issue by clarifying that with the legalization of independent prescribing, people will still have to worry about the supplementary prescribing.
The necessity of the supplementary prescribing can never be irrelevant given the complicities medical prescriptions have. The necessity and importance of the supplementary will not cease with the legalization of independent prescribing. Mr. Griffiths also reveals that supplementary prescribing will enhance and provide confidence to the individuals practicing independent prescribing. He also stresses on the necessity of supplementary prescribing by explaining the competence of supplementary prescribing in providing patients confidence in the support system. The increasing number of patients involving in self care will require greater number of independent prescribers, but the competency required needs the support of supplementary prescribing. Mr. Griffith states that supplementary prescribing will continue to be required for critical cases and change of dosages. It will also be required to train newer prescribers and sharing of experience to enhance independent prescribing. Mr. Griffith has also stated that the responsibility that rests with independent prescribers is enormous and that the patient safety is always the top priority. It should be noted that prescribing can never be prioritized over patient safety and it remains the choice of the prescribers to prescribe a patient without supplementary support or not. He also emphasizes that this responsibility should be adequately catered since it involves health safety of the concerned patient. As mentioned by Mr. Griffith, it was also revealed that prescribing unlicensed medicines and controlled drugs are allowed as long as the legislation changes are not made. Mr. Griffiths also comments that independent prescribing will open up health care and will allow broader opportunities to patients with long term ailments in addressing self care. This will also ensure greater outreach and accessibility in delivering health care. However he also recommends that restrain must be shown if the prescriber is not sure or is in confusion.
The supplementary prescribing was developed on the basis of recommendations made in the final report of “Review of prescribing, supply and administration of medicines” (Webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk. 2018). This report opened avenues of greater access and opportunities for pharmacists and the pharmacy industry as a whole to contribute to primary health care. The arguments put forward by the pharmacists over the year and their inaccessibility to prescribing therapeutic drugs even after having a expertise in the domain were addressed in the report. After the legislation of the independent prescribing, the clinical pharmacists in hospitals will be able to prescribe medications based on the CMP and the patient history. This law gives a power to the individuals in the healthcare industry who have been involved in the long term service and care of the patients. The red tape complications of prescribing will now be reduced since pharmacists will now have the power to prescribe medicines apart from just advising doctors in the dosage and medication of patients in some instances. The pharmacists have always been consulted time and again by doctors while prescribing dosages and medication. The legalization of independent prescribing gives parity to the pharmacists in prescribing medications that include licensed and controlled drugs in some extent without the need of a clinical management plan (Isenor et al., 2018)). The growing involvement of pharmacists in critical care, specialized clinics and diagnosis centres increase their experience by allowing them to use their knowledge of drugs. This gives enough reason to support independent prescribing by non medical professionals in the health care industry (Bourne et al., 2016).
The Need and Importance of Supplementary Prescribing
The clinical responsibility has expanded with independent prescribing and has brought paramount accountability in terms of healthcare safety. Pharmacists have been prescribing medication based on the patient’s medical records and management plans. The role of the pharmacists from over the counter to clinical prescribers will enhance the industry by sharing of responsibilities and knowledge (Latter et al., 2012). This will mutually benefit the industry by harnessing the skilled resource that pharmacists hold while they will be motivated to deliver service by providing care and not just retailing medication over the counter. The independent prescribing will also handle issues of patient load in the scenarios. The future of pharmacists will not just be restricted to drug stores but will see expansion in multiple spheres of health care (Makowsky et al., 2013).
The role of the pharmacists in traditional medicine will be replaced by other forms of medicinal practices mostly governed by machines non-pharmacist specialists and other technical professionals. The scope of the pharmacist needs to be developed in order to motivate and maximize the use of the potential possessed by the pharmacist and other non medical professionals in the industry. The restriction of the pharmacist to mere dispensing of medicine will degrade the discipline and will see lesser inductions in the future years if the discipline fails to provide future opportunities that can promise development of the pharmacists. Moreover the pharmacist prescribing medication or dosage requires motivation and accountability attached with the profession to give a sense of responsibility (Heck et al., 2015). The pharmacists need to develop his skills in tune with the patient care to address the newer responsibilities of the task. The pharmaceutical knowledge needs to be adequately used to deliver competent result along with patient care. The independent prescribing may fragment patient care but it needs to be seen that that there is adequate sync with the responsible persons and concerned authorities.
The aim of allowing independent prescribing will look into the interests of the pharmacist and will expand the opportunities of the trade. The empowering of the pharmacists will allow more patient intensive industry and accountability of the pharmacists and other non medical professionals. The authority to prescribe independently allows smooth functioning in any industry. The right to prescribe independently will bring greater opportunities to the non medical professionals and will also allow the industry to expand in diverse ways. Recognizing the capability of the pharmacists and other non medical professionals in prescribing will not only acknowledge the contribution of the pharmacists in the health care industry but will also increase the number of prescribing health care professionals eventually catering to the load of the health services.
References
Bourne, R. S., Baqir, W., & Onatade, R. (2016). Pharmacist independent prescribing in secondary care: opportunities and challenges. International journal of clinical pharmacy, 38(1), 1-6.
Bourne, R. S., Whiting, P., Brown, L. S., & Borthwick, M. (2016). Pharmacist independent prescribing in critical care: results of a national questionnaire to establish the 2014 UK position. International Journal of Pharmacy Practice, 24(2), 104-113.
Heck, T., Gunther, M., Bresee, L., Mysak, T., Mcmillan, C., & Koshman, S. (2015). Independent prescribing by hospital pharmacists: patterns and practices in a Canadian province. American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy, 72(24), 2166-2175.
Isenor, J. E., Minard, L. V., Stewart, S. A., Curran, J. A., Deal, H., Rodrigues, G., & Sketris, I. S. (2018). Identification of the relationship between barriers and facilitators of pharmacist prescribing and self-reported prescribing activity using the theoretical domains framework. Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy, 14(8), 784-791.
Latter, S., Blenkinsopp, A., Smith, A., Chapman, S., Tinelli, M., Gerard, K., … & Dorer, G. (2011). Evaluation of nurse and pharmacist independent prescribing.
Latter, S., Smith, A., Blenkinsopp, A., Nicholls, P., Little, P., & Chapman, S. (2012). Are nurse and pharmacist independent prescribers making clinically appropriate prescribing decisions? An analysis of consultations. Journal of health services research & policy, 17(3), 149-156.
Lieb, K., & Scheurich, A. (2014). Contact between doctors and the pharmaceutical industry, their perceptions, and the effects on prescribing habits. PloS one, 9(10), e110130.
Makowsky, M. J., Guirguis, L. M., Hughes, C. A., Sadowski, C. A., & Yuksel, N. (2013). Factors influencing pharmacists’ adoption of prescribing: qualitative application of the diffusion of innovations theory. Implementation Science, 8(1), 109.
Pharmaceutical Journal. (2018). Is this the beginning of the end for supplementary prescribing?. Retrieved from https://www.pharmaceutical-journal.com/news-and-analysis/is-this-the-beginning-of-the-end-for-supplementary-prescribing/10006689.article
Webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk. (2018). Review of prescribing, supply and administration of medicines (the Crown Report) : Department of Health – Publications. Retrieved from https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/https://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications
Order an Essay Now & Get These Features For Free:
Turnitin Report
Formatting
Title Page
Citation
Outline
