Workshop 4 – Pharmacists – to prescribe or not to prescribe, that is the question…

Linked to EAHP Statements

Section 1 – Introductory Statements and Governance: Statements 1.1, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5
Section 4 – Clinical Pharmacy Services: Statements 4.1, 4.8
Section 6 – Education and Research: Statement 6.2

ACPE UAN: 0475-0000-21-029-L04-P. An application-based activity. 

Abstract
A legal framework has enabled pharmacists to gain a competence-based qualification to prescribe since 2003 in the UK. Initially, ‘supplementary prescribing’ allowed pharmacists to prescribe within an agreed patientspecific clinical management plan. Independent prescribing was subsequently introduced in 2006 being defined as: a pharmacist responsible and accountable for the assessment of patients with undiagnosed or diagnosed conditions and for decisions about the clinical management required, including prescribing.

So how have prescribing roles developed following this significant legislative change and what influence has this had on patients and the healthcare system in the UK? This workshop will share a clinical pharmacists’ journey developing their role in cardiology to become an independent prescribing practitioner. We will explore what additional skills were required, barriers encountered and what measurable impact this had on patient care and the wider local health economy.

Despite the success story of pharmacist prescribing in the UK, several countries still do not have, or are likely to have, comparable structures to enable pharmacist prescribing. However, hospital pharmacists are considered an important member of the multidisciplinary team and are instrumental in optimising the use of medicines. To enable this, many elements are needed such as effective communication, good relationships with other members of the team and the development of efficient individual medication processes. This workshop will explore how this works in Germany – a country where the possibility of legal pharmacist prescribing is unlikely to happen anytime soon.

By comparing and discussing the benefits as well as the ‘slings and arrows’ of these different models for the integration of clinical pharmacist’s recommendations into the prescribing process, this workshop aims to highlight how to implement pharmacist prescribing directly or ‘indirectly’ into patient care. Participants will be empowered to develop pharmacist prescribing services that best fit the current legal status of their respective countries as well as the settings of their hospitals.

Learning objectives
After the workshop, participants should be able to:
• compare how different countries deliver clinical pharmacy services through ‘direct’ or ‘indirect’ prescribing;
• recognise the benefits of pharmacist prescribing in helping people with their medicines choices;
• plan how to shape clinical pharmacy services in your healthcare setting to improve patient care.

Educational need addressed
This session will enable pharmacists to compare how healthcare systems (Germany and the UK) have different approaches to deliver high-quality clinical pharmacy services. Both systems demonstrate the value of pharmacists within the multidisciplinary team, with the UK approach indicating how having prescribing responsibilities could further realise their potential. Following in from the keynote, this session may help other countries implement pharmacist prescribing, while inspiring others to start planning for this.

Keywords: pharmacist prescribing, deprescribing, holistic patient care, pharmaceutical care, therapy management.