UK govt plans wider Rxing rights

New proposals by the UK government to make prescription medicationsmore easily available include permitting pharmacists to write repeat prescriptions, Secretary of State for Health Alan Milburn has announced.

The proposals are contained within the Health and Social Care Bill, which had its second reading in the House of Commons last week. They seek to increase the categories of health care professionals who are permitted to prescribe; currently, only doctors, dentists and, to a limited degree, community nurses, can do so. Such a development would require the setting-up of an advisory body to make recommendations on which groups should be able to prescribe what products, and under which circumstances.

Mr Milburn has also announced plans to increase the availability of drugs for stomach cancer patients, as part of a L100 million ($149.5 million) investment in improving the treatment of cancer and heart disease.