Earlier this year (news item 599 on our website), we reported that the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) had launched a consultation on extending rights to administer and/or prescribe certain medicines to paramedics, physiotherapists and radiographers. In a separate consultation, DHSC is seeking views on extending the range of medicines that optometrists and contact lens opticians can prescribe and supply.
Rationale
DHSC’s opinion is that GP and secondary care capacity can be freed up if patients with some minor eye conditions can be managed within primary care optometry. The proposals are to:
- Remove from the HMRs a number of medicines that have been discontinued and are no longer available to be sold or supplied in the UK.
- Allow all optometrists to provide signed orders for or directly sell and supply specified Prescription Only Medicines (POM)s in an emergency.
- Allow contact lens opticians to provide signed orders for or directly sell and supply specified POMs in an emergency.
- Allow all optometrists to provide signed orders for or directly sell and supply new POMs in an emergency for the treatment of allergic and bacterial conjunctivitis.
- Allow contact lens opticians to provide signed orders for or directly sell and supply new POMs in an emergency for the treatment of allergic and bacterial conjunctivitis.
- Allow wholesalers to supply specified topical anaesthetics to CLOs so they may be used beyond contact lens fitting.
Specific proposals
Under the proposals, all optometrists would be able to provide signed orders for specified POMs to be fulfilled by a pharmacy and directly sell and supply the specified medicines to a patient in an emergency, providing it is within their professional practice. The POMs are:
- Acetylcysteine
- Atropine sulphate and homatropine hydrobromide
- Azelastine hydrocholoride, ketotifen, olopatadine and lodoxamide
- Sodium cromoglycate
- Pilocarpine hydrochloride and pilocarpine nitrate
- Diclofenac sodium
Contact lens practitioners would be allowed to treat allergic eye disease by:
- providing signed orders for specified POMs to be fulfilled by a pharmacy
- directly selling and supplying these medicines to patients in an emergency, providing it is during their professional practice
The medicines in question are:
- azelastine hydrocholoride
- ketotifen
- olopatadine
Optometrists would be able to provide a pharmacy with a signed order for certain POMs to treat allergic and bacterial conjunctivitis, and sell or supply those POMs to patients in an emergency, providing it is within their professional practice. The POMs are:
- Azithromycin
- Gentamicin
- Epinastine
Contact Lens Opticians would be able to do the same, but not with Azithromycin.
A further proposal would enable contact lens opticians deliver a wider range of eye-care services by enabling them to use topical anaesthetics for purposes other than contact lens fitting.
We are working on teething problems with our new website. If you have not been able to log in, please email chair@plea.org.uk and we will try to help.