Rebecca Coombes , 2025-06-24 11:11:00
BMA representatives have voted to support GPs who refuse to prescribe medicines for hospital patients unless the GP has been properly informed and the treatment has been started and stabilised in secondary care. Representatives also backed GPs who reject initial prescriptions from hospital staff who are not qualified to prescribe, warning that current practices were unsafe and driven by outdated hospital systems.
At the annual representatives meeting in Liverpool, BMA members overwhelmingly backed a motion criticising the routine transfer of prescribing responsibilities from hospital clinics to primary care. As well as increasing the workload, the motion said, this brought patient safety risks, especially when prescribing requests came from non-prescribers.
Brian McGregor, a GP who proposed the motion, called for a UK-wide rollout of electronic prescribing systems linking primary and secondary care, saying that this would improve safety and reduce inappropriate workload transfers. …
