Can non-medical prescribers mix medicines and instruct others to mix medicines?
Nurse and pharmacist independent prescribers are allowed to mix medicines prior to administration and provide written directions for others to do so. Supplementary prescribers are allowed to mix medicines prior to administration and provide written directions for others to do so, only when that preparation forms part of the clinical management plan for an individual patient. Optometrist independent prescribers are not allowed to mix medicines or direct others to do so. Guidance from the Royal Pharmaceutical Society states: ‘The mixing of drugs should be avoided unless essential to meet the needs of the patient, and that those involved in both the prescribing and actual mixing should be competent to do so and take full professional and clinical responsibility for their actions. In addition such actions must be within the governance structures and guidance of the employing authority and of the relevant statutory bodies.’ Law and Ethics Bulletin: Mixing of Medicines The MHRA has already i
