In this section
About us
We are the BDA Prescribers Specialist Sub-Group for those currently prescribing or interested in prescribing or developing prescribing roles. We are a sub group of the Advanced Practice and First Contact Dietitians specialist groups. These are exciting, developing roles for dietitians, which enable us to work more autonomously and prescribe medications for people under our care.
Join the group for access to full resources, CPD material and education opportunities.
The committee is formed of dietitians who have worked in, currently work or have a specialist interest in dietetic prescribing. The committee is currently represented by dietitians from across England, Scotland and Wales, but we would welcome dietitians from other areas of the UK to join the committee. We are an inclusive & diverse committee and welcome ideas to support this aim.
Aims and objectives
The aim of this specialist sub group is to advance the dietetic professions from supplementary prescribing (SP) to independent prescribing (IP).
Our objectives are:
- To provide a network for dietitians interested in prescribing
- To influence government policy to support transition from supplementary to independent prescribing
- To collect data to provide evidence of safe and effective prescribing by dietitians
- To create national guidance on the use of a clinical management plan (CMP)
- To organise educational events to share good practice and provide continuous professional development on prescribing
- To create a patient satisfaction questionnaire to assess the impact of SP on patients
- To help facilitate research and audit amongst members of the group
- To support the development of materials on prescribing such as newsletters, standards, guidance or patient information
This is a very exciting time for dietitians and being able to prescribe medications for people under our care is an extremely important part of our role as specialist dietitians working in several areas including renal, pancreatic, diabetes, nutrition support, obesity, gastroenterology, food allergy, HIV, mental health, neurosciences, oncology and paediatrics.
The committee is keen to work alongside professional bodies and associations, including the government and the Department of Health and Social Care to promote prescribing by dietitians within the growing area of prescribing and ultimately achieve independent prescribing rights.