§ Lord Clement-Jonesasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether, in the light of recent developments to improve access to the National Health Service by widening the availability of advice and treatment they can clarify what levels of access there will be to medicines both over the counter and through the National Health Service itself. [HL2997]
§ Lord Hunt of Kings HeathThere will continue to be two levels of access to over the counter medicines. General sale list medicines will continue to be available from a range of retail outlets. Pharmacy medicines will continue to be available from pharmacies. As part of National Health Service arrangements, medicines will continue to be administered or supplied by a range of professional staff or prescribed by doctors, dentists and some nurses. We are taking action to enable more nurses to prescribe a wider range of medicines from April of this year. In addition, the Department of Health and the Medicines Control Agency will consult shortly on proposals to introduce supplementary prescribing for nurses and pharmacists. Depending on the circumstances, prescribed medicines will continue to be dispensed by hospital or community pharmacies 23WA or by dispensing doctors. There will continue to be restrictions on the types of medicines which most professional staff may administer, supply or prescribe, some of which arise from legislation under the Medicines Act and some of which are specific to the NHS. Those which are specific to the NHS may vary across the United Kingdom as many aspects of NHS arrangements in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are devolved.
§ Lord Clement-Jonesasked Her Majesty's Government:
In the light of the recent consultation to change procedures for the reclassification of medicines from prescription-only to pharmacy sale, whether these modifications will remove National Health Service availability of medicines reclassified for over-the-counter availability; what is the rationale behind such wholesale movement of products from prescription control to pharmacy sale; and whether the change, if implemented, will mean a major change in access to treatments generally. [HL2998]
§ Lord Hunt of Kings HeathThe NHS Plan committed the Government to making more medicines available over the counter as part of a wider strategy to increase access to treatments generally. The rationale for the initiative is to give people a greater choice in their treatment and empower patients to manage their care with the help of skilled healthcare staff. The policy is to improve access to a range of medicines without affecting their availability on the National Health Service unless there are existing restrictions on NHS availability. Before a medicine is made more widely available it is assessed against strict criteria relating to its safety in the circumstances in which it will be used.
Session Instrument Date (CJ ref) Procedure (Motions agreed to/negatived) 1950 Housing (Rate of Interest) Regulation 1950 (S.I., 1950, No. 1008) 25.07.195 0 (207) Address for annulment Draft International Organisations (Immunities and Privileges of the Universal Postal Union) Order in Council 1950 24.10.195 0(242) Order for an Address (19.07.1950, (189)) read and discharged. 1950–51 Fats, Cheese and Tea (Rationing) (Amendment No. 2) Order 1951 (S.I., 1951, No. 470) 09.04.195 1(161) Address for annulment1 Plasterboard (Prices) (No. 1) Order 1951 (S.I., 1951, No. 864) 05.07.195 1 (273) Address for annulment1 Building Plasters (Prices) (No. 1) Order 1951 (S.I., 1951, No. 865) 09.07.195 1 (273) Address for annulment Gypsum Rock (Prices) (No. 1) Order 1951 (S.I., 1951, No. 866) 09.07.195 1 (273) Address for annulment