Throughout this survey, we define ‘prescribers’, ‘providers’, ‘private providers’ and patient group directions (PGDs) as follows:
- prescribers refers to healthcare professionals who have the legal authority to issue prescriptions for medicines
- providers refers to businesses that employ prescribers to deliver prescribing services
- private providers includes providers based in the UK or overseas who deliver a private service
- PGDs are written instructions to authorised healthcare professionals to supply or administer medicines to patients, usually in planned circumstances
When responding to questions, please make it clear whether you are referring to UK or overseas providers, where helpful.
