Are dispensing doctors the right response to prescribing pharmacists?
In the UK, where all pharmacists will prescribe independently by 2026, doctors at 1100 practices can also dispense.
Whenever pharmacists push further into diagnosing and prescribing, GPs ask the question.
If the prescriber-dispenser divide is truly an ancient notion, rather than pharmacists prescribing, can’t doctors dispense instead?
The fact is they can — in the UK.
While Australian GPs can dispense Prescriber’s Bag drugs on the PBS, for almost 20 years certain UK GPs have been dispensing essentially any NHS-funded medicine, including antibiotics or analgesics.
