In accordance with the most up to date guidance we will no longer provide sedative medications in anticipation of dental or secondary care procedures such as imaging.
Often such medication is requested directly from patients, at times having been advised to do so by other clinicians. As prescribers we must ensure that our prescribing is within the limits of our competence.
Dental procedures fall entirely outwith our scope of expertise. Your general dental practitioner is responsible for assessing and managing the dental needs of their patients and can issue NHS or private prescriptions for medications deemed appropriate here.
For secondary care procedures we often have limited information and insight into what is proposed. The requesting hospital clinician should determine the need for sedation, timing of this and any necessary monitoring. If a patient requires medication to enable an investigation or procedure to go ahead the hospital clinician can provide a prescription through the hospital pharmacy or FP10 (hospital doctor prescription pad).
We hope that you understand our policy which we believe provides the necessary safeguards for you, our patients, as well as us as prescribers.
