Indian minister denies plan for nurse practitioners to fill doctor gap.

The Indian government has no current plans to introduce nurse practitioners, Arun Kumar Panda, additional secretary at the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, has said. Clarifying earlier reports in the media, Panda told The BMJ that allowing nurses to prescribe some drugs was simply one of many possible solutions that the government was considering to address the shortage of doctors in rural areas. Extensive deliberations and discussions with theMedical Council of India and the Indian Medical Association would be needed before such a plan could move ahead, he said. Anita Deodhar, president of the Trained Nurses’ Association of India, told The BMJ that nurse practitioners would be a very good idea and were badly needed, though the idea would take time to be implemented. Deodhar said that nurse practitioners should be able to have their own clinics where they can prescribe drugs (when appropriate) or refer patients to doctors. This would help to ease the demand for services at both government and municipal hospitals. She said that in addition to the mandatory legal matters and the necessary standardisation of practices, a list would have to be prepared to specify which drugs could be prescribed by nurses. However, Marthanda Pillai, president of the Indian Medical Association, told The BMJ that the proposal was not required and was not feasible. He said that the number of nurses in the country was not very high and, therefore, would not make a significant difference to the current situation. Moreover, in countries such as the US and UK stringent demarcations and responsibilities were set out for nurse practitioners. Such rules may not be followed in India, which would only worsen the situation, Pillai said.