The Malta Independent online
04 April 2010
by Elaine Attard
The Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses have welcomed the health ministry’s proposals for pharmacists to be given a prescriptive role and they hope that Malta follows in the steps of other countries to introduce what are called nurse prescribers, MUMN president Paul Pace told The Malta Independent on Sunday.
Last week, Health Minister Joe Cassar said that the ministry was following the trends set in other co
untries where pharmacists were given a prescribing role during a speech he delivered at the annual pharmacy symposium
The Medical Association of Malta and the Chamber of Pharmacists traded statements in reaction to the announcement.
Dr Cassar said his ministry was working to expand the role of community pharmacists by giving them the power to prescribe medicine after appropriate training.
This would bring Malta in line with practices in other countries such as the UK, where this scheme was implemented in May 2006.
The MUMN fully supports the Health Minister’s statement and stressed the importance of nurse prescribers.
In the UK, explained Mr Pace, nurse prescribers are specialised in a particular area. “Nurse prescribers would not be able to prescribe medicine to any patient like a General Practitioner would, but they would be able to prescribe medicine for the area they are specialised in. Let’s say a nurse is fully qualified and specialised in diabetes. He or she would be able to prescribe medicine to diabetes patients,” explained Mr Pace.
In the UK, he said, there are nurses running clinics specialised in particular areas who are supervised by medical doctors. These clinics were found to alleviate the pressure on doctors and assist in the smooth running of primary care.
“We all have an obligation to offer a better service to our nation and we should not hinder a better service just to be against change,” Mr Pace said.
The minister, in his speech, was looking at schemes such as that of nurse prescribers which already exist in many EU countries, he said adding that MUMN welcomes any health minister who is prepared to work for the good of the health service, and therefore for the good of the nation’s health, and who considers using alternative measures which in other countries, even as small as Malta, have proved to be a great success.
“We do need a breath of fresh air in our health services which have stagnated in certain work practices, especially in primary care, while these have evolved in other countries,” emphasised Mr Pace. “I believe that the health minister’s responsibility is to see a modern service orientated to the country’s needs,” he said.
Nurses are willing to give a better service to their patients and proud of their work working with people in times of need said Mr Pace.
He went on to say that today, Maltese nurses have either a university degree or a diploma. Nurses receive a warrant to practise from the President of Malta. Many other nurses have a Master or PhD degree and others are ‘informally’ specialised in various fields. This clearly shows that Maltese nurses are up to the task of taking up innovative roles such as that of a nurse prescriber, he remarked.
The minister has MUMN’s full support on this issue since, as a country lacking a number of doctors in the primary health care sector, nurses can contribute immensely to render a better service according to the nation’s needs, he continued.
Power belongs to the people and all changes contribute to a better service especially in primary care. In this area Malta still lags behind other countries in Europe, therefore nurse prescribers are a necessity, concluded Mr Pace.
http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=104065
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