Mixing of medicines

NPC legacy site

Although no new Medicines and prescribing content will be published to the NPC legacy website, the extensive catalogue of existing publications, resources and e-learning materials will still be available to view and download for as long as the information contained within them remains accurate and up-to-date. All future Medicines and prescribing outputs will be published on the NICE website and signposted from the Medicines and prescribing homepage.

The law defines “mixing” as “the combination of two or more medicinal products together for the purposes of administering them to meet the needs of a particular patient.”

Find out more information about the ‘mixing of medicines’ and learn more about the legislative changes by using the eLearning materials section and/or the other useful links and resources available on this left-hand side menu.

NPC (2010). Mixing of medicines prior to administration in clinical practice - responding to legislative changes

Recent legislation change

New legislation came into force on 23rd April 2012 which allows:

•	Nurse independent prescribers to prescribe any schedule 2-5 controlled drugs for any medical condition, within their clinical competence, removing the previous limitations
•	Pharmacist independent prescribers to prescribe any schedule 2-5 controlled drugs for any medical condition, within their clinical competence
•	Nurse and pharmacist independent prescribers, and supplementary prescribers when within the terms of a clinical management plan, to mix controlled drugs for administration and provide written directions for others to do so
•	These changes do not apply to the prescribing of cocaine, diamorphine or dipipanone for the treatment of addiction (this is restricted to Home Office licensed doctors).
•	The non-medical prescribing FAQs will be amended in due course to reflect these changes in legislation.