Prescriptions

Policy

We follow person-centred prescribing principles to ensure prescribing is safe and effective, guided by the Principles for Quality and Safe Prescribing Practice.

The Principles for Quality and Safe Prescribing Practice have been developed collectively by the seven authorities who regulate prescribers, including the Medical Council of New Zealand, Nursing Council of New Zealand, and Pharmacy Council of New Zealand.

All prescriptions must be authorised by a prescriber, who meets the standards for prescribing from their relevant professional body. Legal responsibility for all prescribed medications remains with the prescriber.

We use electronic prescribing and meet the legal requirements of an ePrescription. Prescriptions include all information required by the Manatū Hauora | Ministry of Health.

Prescribers use their clinical judgement to assess individual patient risk and clinical need when prescribing and when determining an appropriate prescription duration.

• The prescriber enters the prescription details into the patient record in the PMS and creates a unique barcode.
• The prescription is sent directly to the patient's preferred pharmacy from the PMS via NZePS.
• The barcode is used by the pharmacist at the point of dispensing.

Eprescriptions downloaded from NZePS at the pharmacy are accepted as original documents.

See also HealthPathways, NZ Formulary, and Te Whatu Ora | Health NZ: Pharmacy Procedures Manual

Audits

Audits help us to maintain and improve prescribing knowledge and skills:

• Repeat prescribing is audited annually .

  To audit:

  • use the PMS to get a list of repeat prescriptions within a specified time frame
  • for each prescriber select an equal number of patients (up to 10), currently taking long-term medication
  • identify what you want to audit.
• Prescribing patterns are assessed by the clinical team, who compare prescribing patterns to regional/national equivalents using tools such as:
  • bpac audit data
  • Atlas of Healthcare Variation maps graphs, charts, and commentaries
  • PHO audit reports
  • EPiC (He Ako Hiringa)
  • DrInfo audit reports.

  Any significant variation from expected patterns is discussed at clinical governance meetings.

See also Quality Improvement Planning.

Resources

• NZNO Guidelines for Nurses on the Administration of Medicines
• HealthPathways: Practical prescribing guide