Non-medical prescribing was one of many innovations introduced into health care at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Nurses were the first group to be involved, with other professional groups subsequently acquiring prescribing rights. The reform of the public sector was a cornerstone of the Labour Government manifesto which sought to make health services accountable, flexible and accessible to all at the point of need (Department of Health [DoH], 2006b). The scaffolding upon which the modernisation of the National Health Service (NHS) has been constructed during the last decade has been the creation of new structures and roles, increased spending and greater emphasis on the measurement of outcomes. The NHS is a diverse organisation, embracing a myriad of disciplines, each with its own history, philosophy and practices. A consequence of this diversity is that even small changes can be problematic. Given the extent of the changes introduced over the last decade, future analysts of healthcare will probably claim that much of the funding allocated during this time was spent on the introduction of change rather than the delivery of care. This is not necessarily inappropriate because good-quality care requires robust systems to underpin and support it as well as methods of monitoring and measuring effectiveness.

The aim of this book was to focus on one aspect of the modernisation agenda, namely, non-medical prescribing.