IRELAND TO GIVE NURSES PRESCRIBING RIGHTS, INCREASE IT USE IN HEALTHCARE

Ireland is planning to implement legislation allowing nurses and midwives in the country to prescribe drugs. The move comes after a recent report by national nursing regulators that recommended extending prescribing authority in this way.

The health sector has welcomed the news claiming that the new prescribing laws will improve efficiency and patient care by making the best use of medical workers. Such a system has already been implemented successfully in countries such as Australia, New Zealand, the UK and the US.

Meanwhile, according to a recent survey by a major US drugmaker, only 2% of people in Ireland have purchased drugs over the Internet, although, up to 25% would consider doing so in the future. The survey points out that consumers still remain concerned over the safety of buying medicines in this way, with 20% of respondents claiming that they have received drugs with faulty packaging or missing instructions.

Research has shown that IT and Internet usage is growing among Irish doctors in the primary care sector. Eighty-four percent of general practitioners have internet access, while 30% use computers for receiving and processing lab results, which speeds up the process by up to a week. This hospital information system is a relatively new development in Ireland and is still being rolled out across the country.