Prescribers – who are they?

The most well known type of prescriber is a doctor. However, there are other health professionals who can also prescribe certain medicines once they have completed the necessary post-graduate qualifications and training, and have been registered by their professional council. These include:

• nurse practitioners
• midwifes
• registered nurse prescribers
• dentists
• pharmacists
• optometrists
• dietitians.

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No, the medicines health care professionals can prescribe depends on their registration as a prescriber, and their scope or area of practice. 

There are 2 categories of prescriber in Aotearoa New Zealand:

• Authorised prescribers can independently prescribe any medicine that relates to their area of practice. This group includes nurse practitioners, optometrists, dentists, medical practitioners and registered midwives. 
• Designated prescribers can only prescribe from a list of medicines published by the Director-General of Health. They are expected to prescribe in consultation with, and supervised by, an authorised prescriber. This group includes pharmacist, dietitian and registered nurse prescribers. 

After becoming a prescriber, ongoing training is compulsory so prescribers can continue to work safely. Employers also have a responsibility to ensure prescribers undertake the relevant training and development, so their knowledge and skills remain up to date.

The New Zealand population is growing, and it's also aging, so there is increasing demand for health services. There aren't enough doctors in the country for everyone to be able to access medical care and medicines when needed. Enabling non-medical healthcare providers to prescribe medicines is one way of meeting this need and making access to medicines easier. 

While medical doctors still provide most prescriptions, the number of prescriptions provided by non-medical prescribers is gradually increasing. After doctors, nurse practitioners provide the next largest number of prescriptions followed by dentists, midwives and pharmacists. Optometrists and dietitians provide the lowest number of prescriptions.  

As described above, a range of different healthcare providers can prescribe within their own specialty area (eg, dentists and some pharmacists). 

More broadly, if you are enrolled with a medical practice or other healthcare provider for your ongoing health care, doctors and nurse practitioners are able to prescribe medicines for you. Some registered nurses can also prescribe.

If you're not enrolled and need to find a prescriber, you can search online for:

• a doctor – on the Medical Council of New Zealand's register of doctors(external link)
• a nurse practitioner – by entering your region into the Healthpoint search page find a nurse practitioner(external link)
• a registered nurse prescriber – by entering your region into the Healthpoint search page find a nurse prescriber.(external link)

You may also be prescribed medicines via a telehealth appointment. Read more about telehealth services.