Chief nursing officer welcomes prescribing changes

Changes that will allow nurses to prescribe a greater range of drugs have been welcomed by the government’s chief nursing officer.

Speaking on Sky News, Christine Beasley said that although nurses have been able to prescribe a number of drugs during the last four years, they have had access to “a very limited list” and argued that, overall, the previous situation was “silly”.

On announcing the changes earlier this week, Patricia Hewitt, the health secretary, said: “Healthcare professionals are increasingly taking on new roles and responsibilities, enabling them to utilise their skills in the best possible way this is good news for patients and good news for healthcare professionals.”

Ms Beasley states that the recent announcement is a “great move forward for nurses and for patients who will get their treatment”. The chief nursing officer also said that patients would also welcome the move.

She stated that “most patients particularly those that have got asthma [and] diabetes” see a nurse on a regular basis and will be “happy because they?ll get their drugs more quickly”. Ms Beasley also said that nurses have the training to be able to cope with these increased demands.

“It’s nurses who will have had at least three years’ postgraduate training and then will have had special training, both in theory and practice, supervised by a doctor. They have to have it registered on our regulatory body, and they have to keep up to date. So it’s a very safe system,” she argued.

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