Medicines management
Medicine management is a term which encompasses all aspects of the supply, use and disposal of medicines. Expert medicines management pharmacists work to reduce medicine-related harm and we help GPs to maintain or improve the quality of medicine use. Effective medicines management can achieve improvements in health outcomes through:
- Promoting safe, evidence based and cost effective use of medicines
- Supporting practitioners and patients to make best use of medicines
- Reducing medication related harm
- Make the best of available resources
- Develop local care home medicine management optimisation pathway
- Develop local integrated formulary
The CCG has published information for over the counter medicines. Following national guidance from NHS England, we’re asking GPs not to prescribe these medicines; including for conditions such as coughs, colds, headaches, mouth ulcers, travel sickness and mild toothache. Full details available here.
Specific prescribing guidelines are available:
- Emollients
- Flash Glucose Monitoring
- Inhalers
- Insulins and GLP-1 agonists
- Low Molecular Weight Heparins
- Oral nutritional guidance
- Vitamin D
- Wound care formulary
See a link to our NW London antimicrobial guidelines for GP Practices.
General enquiries can be made at nwlccgs.medicinesmanagement@nhs.net.
Medicine optimisation in care homes
The North West London CCG Care Home Pharmacy Group has produced a suite of good practice guidance for use by care homes (nursing & residential) and health & social care providers to support them in the safe effective use of medicines. The guidance is based on national standards, legislation and guidance.
See here for more information.
North West London integrated formulary
A formulary is a locally developed document which lists the medicines that are deemed suitable for prescribing with the local NHS. It may also include some other products which can be provided on prescription such as dressings. The formulary covers:
- prescriptions written in primary care
- prescriptions or recommendations by hospital doctors of outpatients or patients leaving hospital after an admission
In these situations, prescribers are asked to take the medicine list fully into account when deciding how to treat patients.
Drugs excluded from national tariff
The North West London CCG has a list of commissioned medicines excluded from the national tariff.
Please click here for the North West London CCG latest PbR Excluded Drugs List.
Please note that North West London CCG will no longer be accepting notification via paper tick box forms. All submissions must be made via the Blueteq HiCost portal.
Please use the following link: https://www.blueteq-secure.co.uk/Trust/default.aspx.
For high cost drug queries, contact the CCG’s Medicines Management Team - nwlcsu.nwlmedmgt@nhs.net.
Individual funding requests
For medicines and/or indications that are not routinely commissioned, these require an individual funding request. Forms can be found here.
