Helen Salisbury: Prescribing and the multidisciplinary team

Although some general practice consultations end in simple advice or referral, most result in prescription of medicine, probably the riskiest activity we undertake in our surgeries. Some surgeries have nurses and pharmacists with extra qualifications to enable them to prescribe, but in our practice only doctors do so. This means that other members of our team come to me with prescription requests, and as it’s my signature (digital or physical) on the prescription, it’s my moral and medicolegal responsibility to make sure that the treatment offered is appropriate.So, how do I know whether it’s safe just to sign, whether I need a conversation with the clinician involved, or whether I really need to see the patient myself? I need to be sure that it’s the right drug; that it’s suitable for that patient, given their other medicines and comorbidities; and that it’s at the right dose, for the right length…
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