Paramedic prescribing

Last month, the research round-up provided you with an overview of articles around the subject of medicines adherence. This month, we will review three articles that consider different aspects of paramedic prescribing practice.

The first article looks at the area of paramedics in advanced practice roles and the requirements for practice, as well as their impact. The second article covers the understanding of the paramedic's role in primary care. In our third article we will review patient-centred paramedic prescribing, autonomy, and concordance.

This article, published in the International Journal for Advancing Practice, reviewed the factors influencing UK paramedic advanced practice. The article defines advanced clinical practitioners as ‘individuals who have a high level of expertise, autonomy and complex decision-making skills within a profession’. The article starts by examining the four pillars of advanced practice outlined by Health Education England (2017) as clinical, leadership and management, education, and research. There is a brief review of the history of paramedic clinical development, which is seen to have evolved rapidly over a short space of time with many paramedics now employed as advanced practitioners in a variety of settings including out of hours, walk-in centres, GP surgeries, emergency departments and acute care wards. These professionals have advanced to gain independent prescribing rights to allow them a degree of autonomy within these roles.