§ Mr. CousinsTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidelines exist to permit the prescription by general practitioners of previously hospital prescribed drugs; and, in particular, what national or local guidelines have been issued about EPO.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyThe Government's policy is that responsibility for a patient's prescribing rests with the clinician who has clinical responsibility. It is for the local clinicians concerned to decide on where responsibility for a particular patient should lie, with the best interests of the patient in mind.
No departmental guidance exists specifically on the prescribing of Erythropoietin.