“It’s massive. It was one of the major barriers in primary health and secondary health,” he told Kaitiaki. “It was huge. I knew the impact this would have on primary care and literally every New Zealander. I knew how big it was.”
Minister of Health Simeon Brown this month announced NPs can now prescribe the same medications as doctors, after the Medicines Amendment Bill passed its third reading to become law.
The bill amended section 29 to finally allow NPs prescribe medicines funded by Pharmac but yet to be approved by MedSafe — often brand substitutes during global supply issues.
That meant that NPs couldn’t even prescribe over-the-counter medication like folic acid, paracetamol and laxatives at times, if the brand was substituted — even for repeat prescriptions, said Baldwin, who is a Dunedin NP working in mental health.
Other medications such as melatonin for sleep and risperidone for mental illnesses such as bipolar disorder were also problematic to prescribe if the supplier changed due to shortages or price shifts, Baldwin said.
NPs would then have to ask a GP, doctor or specialist to do the prescription, causing delays to patients, he said.
“If we can stop one person going through that, then that’s great.”
As well as safer and faster treatment for patients, the move would also benefit growing numbers of NP-led general practices and iwi providers, who would no longer need a GP for prescriptions, Baldwin said.
‘I want to acknowledge the nurse practitioners who . . . are a vital part of our health system and play an increasingly important role in meeting patient needs’.
“So they [NPs] can continue to be the independent autonomous practitioners that they are, set down in our scope — it just means they can fulfil that as an authorised prescriber to the full.”
Faster, safer health care
Nurse Practitioners New Zealand (NPNZ) chair Chelsea Wilmott described the move as “monumental”, saying now NPs could now work to the top of their “full and intended scope”.
It would also reduce barriers for patients and whānau to timely and high-quality health care, she said.
Acknowledging the efforts of Baldwin — an NZNO member and former NPNZ chair — Wilmott said the move followed intense lobbying and meeting with MPs including Seymour, Brown and former minister of health Shane Reti.
Brown said it was a “practical change that will make it easier for people to get the care they need, when they need it, while supporting nurse practitioners to do what they do best”.
NPs worked across primary, aged and rural health care, and were often the lead clinicians for patients and families, he said.
“I want to acknowledge the nurse practitioners who have been calling for this change for years. They are a vital part of our health system and play an increasingly important role in meeting patient needs, particularly in communities where access to doctors can be limited.”
NPs and optometrists became authorised prescribers in 2016, joining doctors, dentists, midwives and veterinarians.
There are now more than 900 NPs in New Zealand, according to the latest Nursing Council data.
