What Is A Prescribing Pharmacist And How They Can Help You?

When most people need to access a prescription, there are typically at least two steps, two departments and two buildings they need to visit before they can get the medication they need. 

Find out more about why a prescribing pharmacist changes all that.

The general principle of most medical pathways is that a person visits a GP with an issue, they examine it, diagnose it and prescribe a particular medication for it. This prescription is then taken to a pharmacist who dispenses it.

There are exceptions to this, such as the Pharmacy First service, and many pharmacists offer recommendations for over-the-counter medications, health services and overall advice, but for the most part, doctors prescribe and pharmacists dispense.

However, a prescribing pharmacist is an exception to this, as they not only diagnose a condition and write a prescription but also dispense it.

They are a vital necessity in a lot of cases, and to understand why, here is an explanation of what a prescribing pharmacist does, how they can help and how they have become the backbone of modern medicine.

What Is A Prescribing Pharmacist?

Historically, the divide between doctors and pharmacists was far stronger. Most medicines were only available on prescription, requiring a doctor to provide a prescription even for minor ailments.

This has changed more broadly, not only through schemes such as Pharmacy First, but also through the increase of non-medical prescribers, such as prescribing pharmacists.

There are typically two types of prescribing pharmacists:

• Pharmacist Independent Prescriber - They are trained to diagnose within a certain competence, and they can prescribe any drug with some exceptions that are detailed below.

• Pharmacist Supplementary Prescriber - They can prescribe any medicine that an NHS doctor could prescribe, which includes unlicensed medications as well as controlled substances.

Both types of non-medical prescribers will have this speciality noted on their entry in a professional register.

What Can A Prescribing Pharmacist Help With?

A prescribing pharmacist can typically offer any medicine for any medical condition they have the confidence to prescribe for.

The only major exceptions for this for pharmacist independent prescribers are:

• Diamorphine, also known as Heroin.

• Dipipanone, also known as Diconal.

• Cocaine.

In all three cases, these controlled drugs are only prescribed for the treatment of addiction and thus require a prescriber who is qualified to help treat addiction.

Can Doctors Ever Dispense Their Own Prescriptions?

Alongside pharmacists who can prescribe, there are also dispensing doctors, who typically operate both a general practice and a pharmacy in rural areas where a local community is too far away from the nearest retail pharmacy.

Will There Be More Prescribing Pharmacists?

As the role of pharmacists changes further and becomes another medical pathway, it is likely that there will be an increase in prescribing pharmacists.

Pharmacists are increasingly being empowered to prescribe prescription medicines for minor conditions without the need to visit a GP and with the knowledge of when to escalate symptoms to a GP, a specialist or a hospital.

There is no reason to believe that this role will not expand, given the success of community pharmacists and the Pharmacy First scheme, although whether there will be a surge of pharmacists with the power of prescribing pharmacists remains to be seen.