Back in 2019, the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs recommended to the Home Office that the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001 should be amended to allow paramedics to independently prescribe and administer five controlled drugs – Morphine Sulfate, Diazepam, Midazolam, Lorazepam and Codeine Phosphate. Following a frankly Herculean effort by the College of Paramedics to progress matters in the years since, The Misuse of Drugs (England and Wales and Scotland) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2023 have now been laid before Parliament and will come into force on 31 December 2023.
Some changes set out in the legislation also impact independent prescriber podiatrists, physiotherapists and therapeutic radiographers – I will pop a link to the Statutory Instrument below. There are different provisions affecting different professions (for example, IP therapeutic radiographers may prescribe oral Oxycodone), so it is worth a read.