Medicines, prescribing and injection therapy

All physiotherapists can give medicines advice to their patients. This is an expectation of reasonable physiotherapy practice for many conditions.

They can also supply and administer medicines to patients under either a Patient Specific Direction, or a Patient Group Direction.

Physiotherapists who have additional prescribing annotations to their HCPC registration may prescribe all licensed medicines - including seven controlled drugs - which are within the scope of physiotherapy prescribing practice.

A guidance note explaining the scope and extent of the CSP's definition of physiotherapist independent prescribing. 

Injection therapy is the administration of medicines, and other selected products, to intra- and extra-articular tissues and joint spaces by invasive injection.

Injection therapy also includes aspiration of joint spaces.

Find out about the eligibility of physiotherapists to administer platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections within a  legal and regulatory framework