NZ pharmacist prescribers
December 18, 2012
PHARMACISTS in New Zealand
will soon be able to undertake
specialist training to prescribe
medications to their patients.
The program, announced this
week by the NZ Associate Health
Minister Peter Dunne, will bring
New Zealand in line with countries
such as Britain, the United States
and Canada, and will see clinical
pharmacists across NZ able to
undergo special training and
competency assessments to
register in an advanced scope of
practice.
The new pharmacist prescriber
practice has been developed by the
NZ Pharmacy Council with the
support of Health Workforce New
Zealand.
As part of the position, the
specialist pharmacist will work in a
collaborative healthcare
environment and be able to
prescribe medication to patients
under the care of their team.
As such, the pharmacist will work
with a designated medical
practitioner who will act as a
mentor, providing supervision and
advice, and who will continue to be
responsible for diagnosis and wider
patient management.
“This is a natural extension of the
experienced clinical pharmacist's
role, making the best use of their
training and knowledge of
medicines and how to manage
them,” said Dunne.
“But this is also about ease of
access to services for patients.
“The positioning of this role, as a
key member of the health team,
means patients get access to all the
care they need, faster, and in one
place,” Dunne added.
Meanwhile, the program has
kicked off with the first group of 14
pharmacists currently undertaking
the new postgraduate certificate in
pharmacist prescribing, which
builds on the postgraduate diploma
in clinical pharmacy.
Seven of the pharmacists
undertaking the training currently
work in hospitals, whilst the other
half work in primary care.
They are expected to complete
their training early next year.
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