Midwife PBS prescribing

MEDICINES WHICH MAY BE PRESCRIBED BY AUTHORISED MIDWIVES

From 1 September 2010, midwives endorsed to prescribe under state or territory legislation can apply for approval as PBS prescribers (authorised midwives).  Information for midwives to become authorised PBS prescribers is available from Medicare Australia.

The medicines listed for prescribing by authorised midwives are identified by ‘MW’ in the PBS Schedule. Midwives must not write PBS prescriptions for other medicines.

PBS prescribing by midwives is limited by state and territory prescribing rights. It is also contingent on a prescriber being an authorised midwife and having collaborative arrangements in place, as required by amendments to the National Health Act 1953.

The Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC) is responsible for making recommendations to the Minister for Health and Ageing regarding medicines for prescribing by authorised midwives.

Some medicines are included in more than one section of the Schedule, and for more than one prescriber type. For a prescription to be eligible for subsidy, prescribers must ensure that they prescribe under the PBS only those medicines, and in accordance with the restrictions, listed for their prescriber type. Listing details for the same product may differ between sections and different PBS item codes apply for each prescriber type.

Midwife PBS prescriptions are identifiable by colour, and include the indicator ‘MW’ on personalised forms and a tick box on non-personalised (blank) forms. Prescriptions must include the midwife’s PBS prescriber number. For unrestricted and restricted PBS medicines, midwives/nurse practitioners can use the personalised or non-personalised PBS prescriber forms.  For authority required and authority required (streamlined) PBS medicines, midwives/nurse practitioners can use the authority personalised or non-personalised PBS prescriber forms. Midwife PBS prescriptions may include repeats. 

Regulation 24 applies for midwife prescribing. A midwife can direct that original and repeat supplies of pharmaceutical benefits be supplied at the one time, if certain conditions are satisfied.

Authority prescriptions: Authority prescriptions for authority required items, or for increased quantities or repeats, require prior approval from Medicare Australia for each prescription. (Refer to Prescribing Medicines—Information for PBS prescribers and Supplying Medicines — What Pharmacists Need to Know, for more information on authority prescriptions.)

State and Territory requirements: Midwives may prescribe medicines as private prescriptions according to their state/territory prescribing accreditation. The medicines which can be prescribed differ between states and territories. It is the midwife’s responsibility to ensure adherence to state/territory law for all prescriptions (PBS and private) and additionally to all PBS requirements for PBS prescriptions.