The need for a prescribing competency framework to address the burden of complex polypharmacy among multiple long term conditions.
The original requirement for a competency framework for prescribers was to identify the essential skills for non medical prescribers. However, core prescribing competencies are relevant to any prescriber. The new, revised version is especially relevant for doctors/physicians. Doctors are the most frequent prescribers prescribing is the most common therapeutic intervention. The quantity and complexity of medicine use is increasing through multiple treatment strategies/pathways for multiple comorbidities, resulting in polypharmacy especially with long term conditions. This is against a background of the ongoing introduction of new drugs with novel mechanisms of action with increased risks of adverse effects, compounded by drug drug and disease drug interactions. This has increased the need for monitoring and follow up, including identification and management of poor adherence. It is challenging for doctors to maintain safe and effective prescribing and train other doctors and non medical prescribers within the multidisciplinary team. The prescribing competency framework provides a systematic approach to support doctors to prescribe safely and effectively. It can be used by medical schools to teach prescribing, including preparation for the prescribing safety assessment; by F1/F2 doctors to support prescribing in early years; as part of prescribing quality improvement initiatives and as a continuing professional development framework in general practice or acute care settings.
Clinical medicine