Dietitians were granted supplementary prescribing rights in 2016. This means that dietitians are now able to qualify as supplementary prescribers after attending an appropriate Master’s level course at university. Once qualified, dietitians can prescribe a range of medications for people under their care. Dietitians are experts in diet and nutrition.
Prescribing dietitians help people who require improvements to their health from a combination of diet, nutrition and medications.
Many people require a combination of diet and medications to optimise their health. Some examples of how dietitians can help with this are listed below.
Dietitians work as part of a multidisciplinary team with doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other healthcare professionals.
A prescribing dietitian will work with an independent prescriber (a doctor) to create a clinical management plan for each patient the dietitian is prescribing for. The independent prescriber makes the diagnosis and then the dietitian supplementary prescriber will assess the patient and prescribe the medication that is relevant to their skills as a dietitian.
The clinical management plan needs to be agreed with the independent prescriber and the patient before the dietitian can prescribe medication.
Prescribing dietitians can work within hospitals, outpatient clinics/units, GP practices, in the community and in private practice.
Are you interested in prescribing? If so, why not join our sub-group for free, as part of your Advanced Practice or First Contact Dietitians Specialist Group memberships.
Find out more regarding prescribing for Dietitians
Find out more regarding prescribing courses
Find out more about the BDA's Independent Prescribing campaign.