Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of enabling paramedics with prescription training, including paramedic practitioners based in GP surgeries, to prescribe a limited number of drugs to alleviate pressure on the NHS.

There are existing systems in place to allow advanced paramedics to become independent prescribers. To become an independent prescriber, a paramedic must have a minimum of three years’ patient-oriented experience and successfully completed an independent prescribing programme. Independent prescriber paramedics can prescribe any licensed medicine, except controlled drugs, for any condition within their competence, including in general practice.