The management of prescribing

Abstract

This chapter describes some key aspects of the current framework within which primary care prescribing is both undertaken and managed, and places nurses’ prescribing in context within this. A complex web of factors influences prescribing; there is therefore a wide range of management strategies. Some are determined nationally (for example, by the DoH or reflecting wider government policy), while others are locally driven at regional or health authority level. This chapter considers mainly medicines prescribed in primary care rather than treatment in hospitals or self-treatment. The terms ‘drug’ and ‘medicine’ will be used interchangeably throughout the text.