Pursuant to the Medicines (Designated Prescriber – Dietitians) Regulations 2015 made under the Medicines Act 1981, the Dietitians Board of New Zealand (“Board”) gives the following notice.

N o t i c e

1. Title and commencement—This notice is the Medicines (Designated Prescriber – Dietitians) Notice 2015 and comes into force 3 August 2015.

2. The purpose—The Schedule to this notice sets out the requirements that the Board has determined must be met by registered dietitians who wish to prescribe a dietetic prescription medicine. These requirements are imposed under Regulation 5 of the Medicines (Designated Prescriber – Dietitians) Regulations 2015.

Schedule

A. Requirements for Prescribing (Regulation 6)

The Board requirements for education and training that Registered Dietitians must undertake before commencing prescribing are as follows:

1. A Master of Dietetics degree (University of Otago) or Master of Science (Nutrition and Dietetics) degree (Massey University) or Master of Health Sciences in Nutrition and Dietetics degree (University of Auckland), conferred after January 2014; or
2. for all other New Zealand registered dietitians the successful completion of the Dietitians Board Prescriber Training Course – consisting of an online course and a face to face workshop with a summative assessment which demonstrates knowledge to safely prescribe dietetic prescription medicines and knowledge of the regulatory framework for prescribing.

B. Other training to be undertaken (Regulation 7)

Registered dietitians who prescribe must:

1. be in an ongoing supervised prescribing relationship and advise the Board of their supervision arrangements; and
2. include prescribing and prescribing related developments as part of their continuing professional development; and
3. complete the Board’s online Annual Prescriber Update on an annual basis.

C. Continuing Competency (Regulation 8)

Registered dietitians authorised to prescribe must provide to the Board each registration year, with their application for a practising certificate, evidence that they have maintained their prescribing competence through:

• Successful completion of the online Annual Prescriber Update;
• ongoing supervision of their prescribing practice by a registered prescriber; and
• undertake a practice review of their prescribing.

Dated at Wellington this 25th day of May 2015.

SUE DOMANSKI, Registrar, Dietitians Board of New Zealand.