Prescribing for patients is an essential and commonplace activity for doctors. It is difficult to imagine many clinical management situations where prescribing is not a feature. Safe prescribing, like every other area of practice, requires you to be informed so you can work in the patient’s best interests. You should not be subject to coercion and you must be able to account for your decisions and actions. Over years, legislation has been introduced that regulates the licensing, supply, and sale of medicinal products. Such legislation sits alongside your ethical and legal obligations related to information disclosure, negotiating treatment outcomes and obtaining valid consent.

Clinical management should be regarded as a partnership between you the prescriber and the patient in your care. When you issue a prescription to a patient it is as a consequence of and in response to the clinical criteria the patient presents. Concordance is more likely to be achieved when patients fully understand the function and role medicines play in their clinical management. This requires them to have information on the drug including what it’s for, the route of administration, dose, precautions or special instructions and known common side effects. Identified risks associated with the medicine plus the information you give should be recorded when the patient consents to the treatment.

Legal prescription

What constitutes a legal prescription? Make a list of what information you think is necessary for a safe and legal prescription. You may wish to discuss this with a senior colleague and see if you both agree. Now read the Prescription Writing section of the most recent copy of the British National Formulary (BNF). How does this compare to your list?