Central to being an independent prescriber is the expectation that “the prescriber takes responsibility for the clinical assessment of the patient, establishing a diagnosis, and the clinical management required as well as the responsibility for prescribing and the appropriateness of any prescribing”.¹³

The Royal College of Pharmacy (as the Royal Pharmaceutical Society) and Royal College of Nursing have co-authored professional guidance to support prescribing and dispensing/supply of the medicine by the same healthcare professional.

This takes the position that “wherever possible, the actions of prescribing, dispensing/supply/administration are performed by separate healthcare professionals.”²⁰

However, “where there is a risk assessment in place and in the best interests of the patient, the same healthcare professional can be responsible for the prescribing and dispensing/supply/administration of medicines.”

There should be a robust audit trail of the decisions and the actions taken with prescribers ensuring that accurate records of prescribing and supply/administration are made. These also need to be communicated appropriately with other professionals supporting the patient’s care.

The guidance, which includes case studies, goes into further detail about risk assessment and what individual pharmacist IPs should do to maximise patient safety.