Dear Colleagues

I am delighted to attach details of a national one-day conference on Non-Medical Prescribing in Substance Misuse, which ANSA is holding in partnership with SMP (Substance Misuse Management Project), on 12 July 2006, at The Clay Oven, 197 Ealing Road, in Wembley and sponsored by Brent DAAT.

This will be a unique opportunity to network with colleagues, who are already carrying out non-medical prescribing in substance misuse and we have a range of first class speakers who will be presenting on a variety of related topics.

I would be grateful if you would disseminate this information to any colleagues from Substance Misuse Services that you think may be interested in attending.

Please contact me on 0208 728 8793/8781 if you require further details.

Kind regards,



Stéphane

I'd like to thank Stephane for organising this conference at short notice.
I have to say the debate with June Crown and Chris Ford was fun.
A great day for networking and putting non-medical prescribing on the agenda.

Here here

The debate . . . in fact the whole day was a great chance for people to share & learn, & thanks goodness the delegate who is under pressure to be a 'cheap option' has held out saying 'NO' & felt supported by the conf

Lots of mentions for smmgp also even tho Chris F was agin us my only comment is that the chair didnt have to use a casting vote in the debate

I think it's really important that people are not bullied into prescribing. It has to be a choice and this is quite new. It seems sometimes we complain when Doctors refuse to prescribe for substance misuse patients. What will the future hold for Nurses/Pharmacists et al who are qualified to prescribe and won't ?

What a day!!!! I also want to thank all the speakers and delegates that attended yesterday conference. It was important to meet and discuss issues that everyone has been thinking for long time now. The debate was fantastic... What a luxury to have Dr June Crown and Dr Chris Ford debating pros and const of non medical prescribing . I will be sending the presentation of the day to SMMGP for info. Hopefully next year more people will come along... And YES you are right we are threatening in having another one around Feb-March. Any input would be much appreciated. Thanks also to Scotland Delegates! I am looking forward next year's conference to exchange views and experiences on non medical prescribng.

That's all for now!

Stephane

Great day; I really enjoyed it!

I feel at a disadvantage. I look forward to learning about non-medical prescribing but am unable to understand what this means presently. Can anyone help me here? Does this mean prescribing exercise as we do to patients who need to improve their cardiovascular risk profiles (which has a sound evidence base) or does it mean prescribing other therapies with a different type of evidence base? As far as I am concerned I can embrace any intervention that is soundly proven to help our patients improve their outcome.

James,
No, it's about non-medics i.e. Nurses and Pharmacists prescribing drugs. In this context mainly Subutex and methadone, hence the Supplementary prescribing part of the forum.

Thankyou for putting me right. It sounds like a very interesting area-I look forward to hearing more. I would imagine some quite strong points of view have already been aired.....

There aren't many of us doing it yet, but hopefully over time more nurses and pharmacists will take it on.

Hi - I wonder if there are any non medical prescribers working in young peoples teams ? I will be going to the conf in London on Oct 4th -hope to find out more there. It's an RCGP SMU event - you have all prob received info, but if not email tmyers@rcgp.org.uk before Friday
Gill

Gill,
I work in a GP surgery so I guess how young is young ?
We have patients we treat probably 18+

By definition 16 years + but our service helps some as young as 12 years.

I think the current NICE stuff about young/diadvantaged people is aimed at up to 24 years old.

Just shows what different definitions there are - a " child " according to the law is up to 18th birthday, our service commissioned by the DAT engages people from 10 - 19, or up to 21 if they are deemed vulnerable & it wouldnt be suitable to send them to an adult service ( eg those with learning difficulties ). NICE guidance on antidepressant meds defines Young People as up to 18th birthday too - not sure about other areas of NICE guidance.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: gill redshaw,

quote:

Originally posted by Stephane:
What a day!!!! I also want to thank all the speakers and delegates that attended yesterday conference. It was important to meet and discuss issues that everyone has been thinking for long time now. The debate was fantastic... What a luxury to have Dr June Crown and Dr Chris Ford debating pros and const of non medical prescribing . I will be sending the presentation of the day to SMMGP for info. Hopefully next year more people will come along... And YES you are right we are threatening in having another one around Feb-March. Any input would be much appreciated. Thanks also to Scotland Delegates! I am looking forward next year's conference to exchange views and experiences on non medical prescribng.

That's all for now!

Stephane

Here it is the time that I am starting to organise the "2nd Non-medical prescribing in Substance Misuse Conference". Please feel free to comment in what do you think would be the most appropriate : 1) Topics, 2)Speakers. The COnference will be held in March (Venue and date to be confirmed) and I hope everyone can make it.

Bye for now.

Stephane

I would like a session on dual diagnosis prescribing eg depression and substance misuse, as the two often go together.

Thanks Beverley! I think this is a great suggestion and I will make it happen.Point Taken!

Thanks Again.

Stephane

Stephane,
Great news and I wonder if you could get Peter Bates from the National development team. I have seen him speak recently about social exclusion and he is fantastic.
http://www.ndt.org.uk/aboutN/theteam.htm#pbpic
best wishes

Simon

Stephane,
Good to hear there will another conference so soon.

Non-medical prescribers are meant to prescribe 'within the limits of their competence'. It would be interesting to explore how this competence can be developed after qualifying as a prescriber in the field. (You can see what my need is!)

I am thinking about issues that may arise in a consultation that could be adressed easily if you had the competence, but which may go untreated if you cannot get a competent prescriber there and then. Examples would be acute infections or cellulitis around injection sites, infestations like scabies or lice, 'funny rashes' or mental health problems like depression and anxiety. How should you develop the competency to assess, diagnose and prescribe for these conditions when it may not have been addressed in your previous training or experience? This may be an issue particularly when working with deprived populations who only attend for their script and avoid other contact with treatment services. Do you stand idly by, staying within your competence, send a futile referral to the appropriate service, or read up from a few books and declare yourself competent?

A session adressing these issues would be welcome. (Or do we need another thread here? And does reading a thread here develop your competence?)