Government to allow more NHS staff to prescribe medicines as ministers relax rules post-Brexit

Government to publish new Medicines and Medical Devices Bill to try and keep UK's £74 billion life sciences sector competitive post-Brexit

More NHS staff will be allowed to prescribe medicines in certain low-risk situations (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The government is aiming to relax rules to allow more NHS staff other than doctors to prescribe drugs to patients.

It is part of new legislation presented to Parliament on Thursday, which will also seek to soften regulations governing the UK’s £74bn life sciences sector to make the UK more competitive post-Brexit.

Ministers hope to give more midwives, physiotherapists, paramedics and other staff the power to prescribe what the Department of Health and Social Care described as “low risk medicines” which it said could help reduce unnecessary GP appointments.

The DHSC said there would be “appropriate safeguards” put in place and “clear limits” on what medications were eligible adding it would seek to work with NHS leaders to determine exactly what medicines would be included.

The Medicines and Medical Devices Bill, published today, will aim streamline the licensing and regulation of new treatments to try and ensure the UK remains competitive and an attractive market to pharmaceutical companies and manufacturers.

Post-Brexit the UK will be outside the European medicines market, regulated by the European Medicines Agency, and the bill is intended to tackle any risk patients in the UK may wait longer if companies choose to seek EU approval for drugs first.

The government has yet to provide details on these changes but The Independent understands it will include removing bureaucracy around clinical trials so that medicines can be tested for safety and efficacy faster. meaning they can be approved for use sooner.

Pharmaceutical leaders are understood to be lobbying the government and NHS England to make it easier for new treatments to be approved for use in the NHS.

The government said patient safety would remain a priority and would be strengthened with new regulations on devices and online retailers of drugs.

Under the plans hospitals will be given new powers to develop personal treatments for patients using their DNA to develop targeted genetic therapies. They will also be allowed to develop their own drugs which would otherwise be unavailable such as those with a shelf-life of just minutes. This could widen treatments for cancer and brain tumours.

Ministers believe a more flexible faster regulatory system will be able to respond to technological changes quicker and act when concerns are raised.

Companies will be required to register medical devices with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), with strict safety checks and tough enforcement action if something goes wrong.

Health secretary Matt Hancock will also be given the power to disclose information about devices to the public and health providers when there are serious patient safety concerns.

The bill comes after prime minister Boris Johnson announced £200m to support emerging life science start-ups with a further £400m in private sector investment expected to follow.

Health minister, Baroness Blackwood, said: “The new bill will give our most treasured institution further freedom to innovate to improve the lives of countless people and protect patient safety to the highest standards.

“It will slash red tape, support uptake of treatments for people with rare diseases and empower those in the NHS who know what’s best for their patients to deliver the best quality care.”

The UK life sciences sector employs around 250,000 people in the UK with 950 clinical trials involving over a million patients in 2018.