Ministerial approval for commencement of work on paramedic prescribing

The Allied Health Professions (AHP) Medicines Project is a joint initiative by NHS England and the Department of Health to extend prescribing, supply and administration of medicines to Allied Health Professions, with the aim of facilitating service redesign; increasing patient choice; improving access to medicines; and making the best use of allied health professionals’ skills, while maintaining patient safety.

The College of Paramedics have been campaigning for a number of years to review the current legislation around non-medical independent prescribing and the case for paramedic independent prescribers.

Current proposals that the NHS England AHP Medicines team are focusing on are:

Independent prescribing by therapeutic and diagnostic radiographers

Independent prescribing by paramedics

Supplementary prescribing by dietitians

Use of exemptions from Medicines Act Regulations by Orthoptists.

NHS England, in partnership with the College of Paramedics, the Society and College of Radiographers, the British and Irish Orthoptic Society, and the British Dietetic Association, have developed a case of need for each of the proposals outlined above based on improving quality of care for patients in relation to safety, clinical outcomes and experience, while also improving efficiency of service delivery and value for money.