Nurses and pharmacists at St Peter’s Hospital can now provide a wider range of pain relief and other drugs.

The law relating to national guidance on prescriptions recently changed reduced restrictions on what nurses could prescribe.

The new guidance means nurses and pharmacists who have had training can now prescribe more pain killing drugs.

Patient group directions – clinical documents that allow nurses and pharmacists to administer named drugs in specific situations – have also changed.

Previously, nurses could only give one particular strong pain killer for heart pain in an emergency, but now they will be able to deliver two strong pain relief drugs for the immediate treatment of a sick or injured person in any setting.

Sharon Kitcatt, consultant nurse for acute pain, said: “This guidance will make a big difference for many of our patients.”