Preparing to Prescribe: an online implementation tool kit for non-medical prescribers

Demand for medication is increasing: 105.8 million prescriptions are issued annually in the community alone, and the number of people over 85s is set to double in the next 10 years, many of whom require multiple medications (Holloway and Henry, 2014). Given that there is a deficit of 18 million healthcare workers worldwide and a predicted UK shortfall of 350 000 by 2030, with a third due to retire by 2030 (Beech et al, 2019), the implications for ensuring access to medicines are profound. New approaches that overcome inadequacies of traditional doctor-led systems of care are urgently required.

Extending prescribing rights to nurses, pharmacists and allied health professions (Department of Health (DH), 2009; 2008) has been the focus of United Kingdom (UK) policy drive to ensure access to medicines by making better use of existing skills and innovation in service delivery (NHS England, 2017; 2020; Graham-Clarke et al, 2017). The UK continues to be the pioneer of developments in non-medical prescribing, with over 91 000 nurses, pharmacists, physiotherapists, podiatrists, optometrists, therapeutic radiographers, dietitians and paramedics now qualified to prescribe medicines.