Dear All, i don't know if you can add a file on here so i have just cut and paste the following.

I'm not quite sure what they mean by nurse independent/supplementary prescriber ( ? somone who can't make thier mind up)

And (gripe, gripe) why do i have do do ANOTHER bit of studying to become an independent prescriber when nurses dont???

To: All SHA Non-Medical Prescribing Leads

From: Paul Robinson,
Policy Lead, Non-Medical Prescribing
Department of Health
6 April 2006
Nurse Independent Prescribing and Pharmacist Independent Prescribing

1. You will be pleased to hear that changes to enable nurse independent prescribing (and pharmacist independent prescribing) for all licensed medicines within a prescriber’s competence (including, for nurses some Controlled Drugs) are imminent. Various regulations to enable this were laid on 3 and 4 April. Subject to Parliamentary approval (under the negative resolution procedure), these regulations come into effect on 1 May 2006. An entry in the May Drug Tariff will confirm this.

2. The new regulations are:

- the Nurses and Midwives (Parts of and Entries in the Register) Order of Council 2006 No.1015
- the Medicines for Human Use (Prescribing) (Miscellaneous Amendments) Order 2006 No.915
- the Medicines (Sale or Supply) (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2006 No.914
- the NHS (Miscellaneous Amendments Relating to Independent Prescribing) Regulations 2006 No.913
- the Misuse of Drugs (Amendment) Regulations 2006

3. The effect of these changes is that the Nurse Prescribers' Extended Formulary will be discontinued on 30 April 2006. From 1 May, new titles for nurse prescribers will come into being:

- Community Practitioner Nurse Prescriber
- Nurse Independent Prescriber
- Nurse Independent / Supplementary Prescriber.

- Pharmacist Supplementary Prescriber will continue as a title, but there will also be a new type of pharmacist prescriber:
- Pharmacist Independent Prescriber, though a training programme for pharmacists will not be available before Autumn 2006.

DH guide
4. The DH guide will be called:

"Improving Patients' Access to Medicines:
a Guide to Implementing Nurse and Pharmacist Independent Prescribing within the NHS in England".
It should be available on the DH non-medical prescribing website, www.dh.gov.uk/nonmedicalprescribing early in the week beginning 10 April.

Heather,
I too don't think there should need any extra training for pharmacists.
It is good news re the opening of the formulary, but it's still not quite right.
I spoke at an NTA event yesterday in York and seems a Pharmacist in Wakefield will be prescribing soon. He's got my details as he wants to look at our template, so will let him know about you.

I am a pharmacist who was in the first wave of supplementary prescribers. I wrote my first prescription for methadone in October 2005. In February this year I titrated a patient in my pharmacy after initial assessment and agreement of a clinical management plan in the D&A clinic.

I am part of a team lead by two GPwSIs. The team includes RMN nurses and counsellors as well as myself and we adopt a hollistic approach. The GPwSIs have been incredibly supportive and they haven't sacked me yet so they must value what I contribute.

Having been involved in this team I believe pharmacists have much to contribute but significant weaknesses (particularly in patient counselling whch at the outset was a strength I thought we had!).

I don't really have a problem with the independent prescribing situation, I will be doing the course as soon as possible, but I understand that independent prescribing of controlled drugs is for the future.

I would love to hear from other pharmacists involved in substance misuse and share examples of good and bad practice. I will be at the Manchester conference so if anyone wants to share examples of how to misuse boddingtons bitter I will be very happy to demonstrate!!

Hi Tony, i have just finished the prescribing course so have not written a script yet but would love to meet up at manchester. I am running a workshop on the first day so if we haven't 'found' each other by them come and seek me out.
Heather

Here is the latest link
http://www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/13/37/47/04133747.pdf

Hello, Tony,

Are you still out there!

I'm delighted to hear that you're actually prescribing out of your pharmacy premises wioth support of local GPwSIs, I trust it is still going well.

In Leeds we're working on a similar development of shared care, so I'd be delighted if we could make contact so I can pick up any tips - what's worked well, what you'd do diferrently etc. My email is jez.thompson@nhs.net. Great if you could get in touch,

Jez Thompson

It is crunchtine regarding this prescribing stuff. I am meeting with various bods at the PCT soon regarding just what my role will be now I have all the necessary bits of paper. They will be looking at me working as part of the core team rather than in shared care, as that is where they need more prescribing input at the moment. Any one got any experience of how it may differ there compared to in primary care settings? From what I can see most NMPs are in GP practices or community pharmacies in this field.

I do not intend to become a script signing robot, so would welcome ideas on how to avoid this fate that many medics suffer, I would especially like to hear from sessional prescribers of any kind working in 'core' services/agencies, how do you retain genuine clinical autonomy when another key-worker is leading care delivery?

Jim.
I think you need to make it clear how often you are happy to see the patient between scripts.
I think it takes us back to the CMP debate, Doctor needs to see them, you need to see them and key-worker needs to see them. It seems to get a bit complicated.

Yes its a bit like that with me -the shared care drug service do the initial assessments then contact me for the scripts. So client sees drug worker there for urines and key working and brings a letter to me suggesting dose etc. I also work with some who aren't in shared care.