Iceland minister plans wider prescribing rights for health professionals

Health Minister Alma D. Möller says Iceland is working to change how responsibilities are divided among health professions, including allowing midwives to use their own licence numbers when requesting tests. The changes require technical, legal and cultural adjustments, mbl.is reports.

The Directorate of Health is finalising a list of licence numbers for midwives and nurses. The numbers will then be entered into the relevant computer systems.

“This is simply work in progress,” Alma said in an interview with mbl.is.

There is broad agreement on changing the system for test requests made by midwives, according to the minister. The aim is to make better use of the expertise of midwives and nurses, including by allowing them to order certain tests and follow up on the results.

The issue is furthest advanced in relation to midwives and maternity care, Alma said, because midwives have extensive expertise in that field.

The changes concerning midwives involve both test requests and prescriptions. The test-request proposal has been discussed with doctors and other professional groups, and there is agreement that the change is a good idea and on how it should be implemented. The remaining work is technical.

Bill to be submitted again

Expanding prescribing rights will require changes to legislation. Alma introduced a bill on the issue during the previous parliamentary session, but it was not completed before Parliament adjourned.

“It was the only bill of mine that was not completed,” she said.

Alma said the bill has already been resubmitted and that she intends to introduce it again when the new parliamentary session begins.

The proposed changes would expand prescribing rights for midwives, nurses and pharmacists. The bill also covers pharmaceutical services, an area on which the ministry has worked separately.

Alma said the changes form part of a broader effort to make better use of the education and specialist expertise of health professionals. She said doctors should not perform tasks that other professional groups are able to undertake.