Find out more about our current campaigns and how you can support the Speech and Language profession
The Campaign
The #PrescribingNow campaign is calling on the UK Government to use the powers it has under the Medicines and Medical Devices Act (2021) to extend independent prescribing responsibilities to dietitians, occupational therapists, orthoptists, diagnostic radiographers, and speech and language therapists where it is safe and appropriate to do so within the scope of their professional practice.
The campaign is a partnership between the British Dietetic Association, the Royal College of Occupational Therapists, the British and Irish Orthoptic Society, the Society of Radiographers, and the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.
It builds on the collective work these organisations did during the passage through Parliament of the Medicines and Medical Devices Act when MPs and peers advocated for us to be granted prescribing responsibilities.
The #PrescribingNow campaign is supported by the British Association of Prosthetists and Orthotists as prosthetists and orthotists will be seeking independent prescribing responsibilities in the future.
- Read the letter to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care from the AHP organisations
- Q & A – Find out more information about the campaign
Campaign Resources
We have developed a number of resources to help you support the #PrescribingNow campaign
If you are an SLT, OT, dietitian, diagnostic radiographer, orthoptist, orthotist or prosthetist, you can:
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- Take part in our e-action to contact your MP
- Download our Toolkit to learn more about how you can support #PrescribingNow
- Download the #PrescribingNow Logos to use on social media
- Download our template letter to send to your MP to send to your local MP. You can find your local MP using the postcode checker below
If you are another healthcare professional
If you are another healthcare professional who supports our call, you can also use the material above – tailor the letter to your MP by highlighting why you support us being granted independent prescribing responsibilities and why it would help you.
If you are an MP
- Download the template letter for MPs send to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
- Download the #PrescribingNow Logos to use on social media
If you are a member of the House of Lords
- Download our template letter for peers to send to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
- Download the #PrescribingNow Logos to use on social media
For further information, please contact Elissa Cregan at elissa.cregan@rcslt.org
14 November 2023 – College of Operating Department Practitioners joins #PrescribingNow Coalition
In an important advancement for the #PrescribingNow campaign, the College of Operating Department Practitioners (ODPs) have joined our coalition calling on the UK Government to begin the process of extending independent prescribing responsibilities to more allied health professionals (AHPs).
ODP is a highly specialized field focusing on perioperative care and patient support. This discipline, crucial within the surgical team, is dedicated to exceptional patient care.
19 February 2024 – Institute of Osteopathy joins #PrescribingNow Coalition
In a significant boost for the #PrescribingNow campaign, the Institute of Osteopathy has joined our coalition. This move strengthens our call for the UK Government to extend independent prescribing powers to more allied health professionals (AHPs). Among the 14 AHPs, osteopaths stand out for their expertise in the musculoskeletal system, contributing significantly to both NHS and private care. Specialising in the musculoskeletal system, osteopaths use their expertise to diagnose, manage, and prevent health issues through manipulation, stretching, and massaging of muscles and joints.
20 February 2024 – Coalition marks its first birthday with a renewed call for extending prescribing responsibilities to AHPs
In February 2023, the British Dietetic Association, the Royal College of Occupational Therapists, the British and Irish Orthoptic Society, the Society of Radiographers, and the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists, launched the #PrescribingNow campaign. The coalition has since been joined by the British Association of Prosthetists and Orthotists, the College of Operating Department Practitioners and more recently by the Institute of Osteopathy.
1 year update
- The coalition has continued to grow
- Numerous MPs have tabled written questions or written to ministers.
- Coalition letters to Secretary of State for Health and Social Care remain unanswered in February 2023 and September 2023. So do letters from individual organisations.
- In December 2023, the House of Lords Integration of Primary and Community Care Committee recommended, ‘More community disciplines should be given independent prescribing and referral rights, going further than the recently announced plans from the government for pharmacists
- On the 6th of February, Lord Bradley held an Oral Question, and the responses from the government were encouraging on the principle of extending prescribing responsibilities to more AHPs.
More needs to be done: more clarity is urgently needed on timing
While the Oral Question responses are encouraging on the principle of extending independent prescribing responsibilities to more allied health professionals – and RCSLT is very pleased to see the Government’s keenness to extend them to speech and language therapists specifically – more clarity is urgently needed on timing.
Next steps
As we mark the coalition’s first anniversary, the RCSLT is very grateful for all the support #Prescribingnow has generated over the past year. We will follow the Oral Question responses with the Government, and you can read the #PrescribingNow coalition’s briefing to support the question.
More information
For more information, please contact elissa.cregan@rcslt.org