Chemists to prescribe medicines over phone
PHARMACISTS could be allowed to prescribe medicine over the phone without seeing patients in person.
Plans by NHS24 would give its pharmacists the same powers as GPs to diagnose complaints and write prescriptions.
There are fears patients could be put in danger or advised to take the wrong medicines.
It follows the i ntroduction of ‘pharmacist prescribers’ to take on the duties of family doctors and write prescriptions in surgeries.
But allowing pharmacists give prescriptions over the phone has been attacked by critics as a ‘step too far’.
Dr Jean Turner, a retired GP and former director of Scotland Patients Association, said: ‘It is all very well a pharmacist sending a repeat prescription for an illness which is already in the medical records of a patient and has been diagnosed.
‘But it is doctors who are taught to diagnose. They take a history, examine the patient and make a decision, and I am dubious about an attempt by a pharmacist to cover this over the phone. Let’s get more GPs, not substitute them with other people. This could put patients at risk.’
NHS24 provides guidance for thousands when surgeries are shut. Its pharmacy advisers can only provide information and advice on medicine.
However, it is considering introducing ‘ pharmacist prescribers’, who would be able to decide which medicine to give, and telephone the prescription to a pharmacy so patients could collect it out of hours.
The only example NHS 24 would give of patients who could be prescribed medication in this way was a patient with a urinary tract infection. Such infections are frequently misdiagnosed and patients in fact often have sexually transmitted infections or cystitis. But this leads to antibiotics being prescribed unnecessarily amid the rise of superbugs such as MRSA and Clostridium difficile.
However, NHS24 has insisted that for many minor illnesses, patients will be sent to the nearest community pharmacy to speak to someone.
Tory health spokesman Jackson Carlaw said: ‘We broadly welcome this but protocols and regulations will be critical. Any scheme which allows patients early access to appropriate medicines, while reducing the burden on GPs, is a good thing.
‘However, should it lead to improper diagnosis or loose prescribing of over the counter medicines, then it will only compound the issue of an ever increasing drugs bill.’
NHS 24 has said pharmacist prescribers would prescribe a limited number of medications for a limited number of conditions, following a ‘thorough’ telephone assessment.
A spokesman said: ‘Patient safety would continue to be the primary concern and a comprehensive clinical assessment would be carried out by telephone consultation, as already happens when patients speak to a doctor through the out of hours service.’
‘This could put patients at risk’