St John welcomes move to allow paramedics to prescribe medicines

<p>Hato Hone St John is not concerned that ambulances will become "mobile pharmacies" when paramedics are <a href="https://www.1news.co.nz/2026/06/06/paramedics-to-be-able-to-prescribe-some-medications/" target="_blank">able to prescribe medicines</a>.</p> <p>Health Minister Simeon Brown has announced that paramedics who have been trained to do so will be able to prescribe from a list of 232 medicines covering common infections and treatments needed in urgent and community care, and issue repeat prescriptions from the list for long-term conditions.</p> <p>The list of medicines was sensible, the ambulance service's deputy chief executive of clinical services Jon Moores said.</p> <p>"It reflects a need both in what paramedics are likely to see out there in the community but also more broadly making sure we…