The Relationship between Multidisciplinary Teams - Essay Example

The supplying of medicines to the public is highly dependent on the type of medicine. Medicines are legally divided into three categories which include: Pharmacy (P), Prescription Only Medicine (POM), and General Sale List (GSL) (Jones, 2004). While GSL are supplied to the public through a wide range of facilities, such as supermarkets, P and POM medicines are only available at registered pharmacies. Moreover, in order to buy POM, the buyer must have prescription from a certified practitioner.

Currently in Europe, there are two agencies that provide drug license: the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the European Medicines Evaluation Agency (EMEA). Mostly companies apply for an EMEA license as it is accepted all around EU while MHRA mainly functions within the United Kingdom (Davis, 2003). A company may apply for a drug license through a centralized system or a decentralized (or mutual recognition) system. In a centralized system, the committee assesses the drugs to be used by human and monitors its impact before approving or disproving a drug for a license (Jones, 2004).

One the other hand, in the decentralized system, a company may apply for a license in different member states, such as MHRA in the UK. One member state assesses the drug and based on the result other member states may object or agree to license the drug. If one or more member states object to the drug, the Committee for Proprietary Medicinal Products (CPMP) then advices the EU commission on whether to license the drug or not (Davis, 2003). The Medicines Act of 1968 is still used for the prescription, supply, and administration of medicine (Sturm & Unutzer, 2000).

Back in 1989, the circumstances in which nurses might prescribe a drug were taken into consideration and it was recommended that nurses having qualification of a district nurse or health visitor should be given permission to prescribe certain drugs falling in the list of limited formulary (Department of Health, 1989). This was implemented recommendation was implemented nationally in 1998 in England. The main route of drug supply is through a pharmacist who may prescribe POMs and P medicines (Jones, 2004).

They may also prescribe black triangle drugs (Jones, 2004). However, this principle is not rigid and can be bent in situations that require some other health professionals to supply the drugs to assure health care (Crown, 1999). The medicine legislation allows the dentists and doctors to supply and administer medicines and also allows nurses and health workers to do so as directed by the doctor or dentist (Nuttall & Rutt-Howard, 2011). Moreover, the legislation also allows certain health professionals, including occupational therapists, chiropodists, and radiographers, to supply certain medicines.

In August 2000, the Medicine Legislation was amended in order to clearly define and explain the Patient Group Directions PGDs and include other private and voluntary services (RCN, 2006). The amendment clearly defines the limited situations in which medicines may be administered under the PGDs as not doing so would jeopardize the health of the patient (RCN, 2006). A multidisciplinary non-medical prescribing team (MDPT) includes a team leader, which must be employed by the trust, who develops and maintains the roles of each member in the team using his or her professional skills.

The MDPT plays an important role in shaping