Feedback On Nurse Prescribing Rules

Health Minister Wyatt Creech said today work was underway to analyse feedback on proposals to clear the way for nurses to prescribe medicines for the elderly and children.

A consultation document - Nurse Prescribing in Aged Care and Child Family Health outlining nurse prescribing options was released in December.

"115 submissions - some very large and detailed and some small - have been received on the consultation document. These are currently being analysed. The Ministry of Health will report back to me with the analysis and recommendations by the end of June," Mr Creech said.

"This consultation process as part of the Nurse Prescribing Project is on the very narrow issue of what areas would be the best for nurses to prescribe.

"The proposals have the potential to improve access to services, and create greater flexibility in the ways health services are delivered to the community."

The Medicines Amendment Bill provides a framework for extending independent prescribing rights to nurses and a number of other registered health professionals.

"While the Health Select Committee is considering submissions on the Medicines Amendment Bill, the Ministry of Health is simultaneously considering the submissions on possible areas where nurses could prescribe."

Mr Creech noted questions had been raised about over prescribing of antibiotics and the rise of bugs resistant to these drugs.

"The questions is one of over-prescribing in general rather than who is doing it. International evidence seems to be on the side of the nurses and shows that as a group they tend to be more conservative in prescribing than their doctor counterparts. They are more likely to recommend alternatives to medicines more often than doctors do."