Pharmacists should not dispense the medicines they prescribe, the Pharmacy Board of Australia says in its draft guidelines for a national prescribing credential.

The board has started consulting on its draft ‘endorsement for scheduled medicines’ — a note on the AHPRA register for pharmacists who have undergone training for state prescribing programs that will allow them to prescribe S4 and S8 drugs anywhere in Australia according to what local regulations permit.

Under the draft, pharmacists would be told not to write and fill the same script outside of “extenuating circumstances”, although it leaves the door open for colleagues at the same pharmacy to prescribe and dispense respectively.

“The division of these roles, enabling a different pharmacist to provide independent clinical oversight and an opportunity to identify any potential error in prescribing, is an important safeguard,” it says.