The Director-General of Health has authorised a list of 232 prescription medicines that designated paramedic prescribers will be able to prescribe. This follows a change in regulations and an online consultation led by the Ministry of Health.
In June, the Government announced changes under the Medicines Act 1981 to enable paramedics to become designated prescribers. This means suitably qualified paramedics will be able to prescribe from a specified list of medicines within their area of practice, supporting faster care for patients.
Paramedics are a regulated health profession and already provide assessment, treatment, and medicine administration across emergency, urgent, primary, and community settings. However, they have not had prescribing authority and instead rely on standing orders issued by authorised prescribers, such as doctors.
The new Medicines (Designated Prescriber - Paramedics) Regulations have been published in the New Zealand Gazette and come into force on 3 September, authorising paramedics to become prescribers. Additionally, the list of the medicines has been published in the New Zealand Gazette.
Paramedics will not be able to prescribe these medicines immediately. Only paramedics who complete approved education and training will be able to prescribe, and they will be limited to prescribing from this defined list of medicines within their scope of practice and area of specialisation.
Te Kaunihera Manapou - the Paramedic Council of New Zealand - is undertaking work to develop a new prescribing scope of practice and will work with education providers to determine the most appropriate qualifications for paramedic prescribers.
The medicines, approved by the Director-General of Health, cover a range of therapeutic areas, including:
- medicines for common infections or minor conditions (eg, respiratory or ear infections)
- repeat medicines for common conditions (eg, pain relief, asthma inhalers, diabetes medicines)
- medicines needed in urgent or community care settings.
The Ministry of Health ran a public consultation on a proposed list of medicines from 6 June to 5 July, in partnership with the Paramedic Council.
The Ministry received 116 submissions, including from health professional organisations, responsible authorities (regulators), health providers, and individuals. Most submitters (76%) were supportive; 20% offered conditional support; and 4% were not supportive.
The Ministry will publish a summary of the consultation feedback in the coming weeks.
