02.10.12
Prescribing power
The HCPC has launched new guidance on training needed for podiatrists/ chiropodists and physiotherapists to prescribe on an independent basis.
Such a move, handled carefully, could reallocate some of the pressure on GPs, and integrate the health care system to provide smoother pathways for patients.
And could this approach be extended to other professions?
In the latest edition of NHE, contributors from the Royal Society for Public Health and Community Pharmacy Wales both suggested that this was a role pharmacists were well placed to fulfil.
It could speed up treatment for patients who need it, as well as reducing the winding path around the NHS before a formal diagnosis can be made.
These are certainly issues to be considered for the future of prescribing.
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