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What is this public consultation about?
We’re reviewing the Prescribing Competencies Framework – Embedding quality use of medicines into practice, second edition (the framework) to make sure it keeps up with safe and person-centred prescribing. This consultation is about proposed updates to the framework. Your feedback will inform what we include in the next edition.
About the framework
The framework outlines the knowledge, skills and professional attributes that health professionals need to safely and effectively prescribe medicines. It covers four key stages, putting the person receiving care at the centre of the prescribing process.
The four stages are:
- information gathering
- clinical and shared decision making
- communication, and
- monitoring / review.
The framework is mainly used by education providers / universities, accreditation authorities, regulators, departments of health, professional associations and colleges. It is used to support the development and review of education, training and continuing professional development programs, practitioner self-reflection, National Boards’ regulatory functions, and the recognition and understanding of the prescribing role.
More information about the framework and its review is available on our website.
What’s new?
Proposed updates to the framework include but are not limited to:
- expanding on the person-centred approach, including more emphasis on shared decision-making between the person receiving care and the prescriber
- increasing the focus on people with specific needs, including older people in residential aged care, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, people with mental illness, disability or chronic conditions, and those living in rural and remote areas and other vulnerable groups
- highlighting the importance of considering a person’s health literacy when prescribing, and
- ensuring a prescriber is meeting local and national requirements particularly when practising in areas with fast-evolving technologies or with new ways of providing care.
How does it affect you?
While the framework isn’t intended to be used by the public, it puts the person receiving care in the centre of the prescribing process. This approach supports the person to actively participate in decision-making for treatment options and more broadly to support the safe use of medicines.