The following links provide a summary of the medicines related guidance published that month by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) https://www.nice.org.uk/

The NHS is bringing a new generation of biosimilar medicines to patients, providing greater access to key treatments for thousands of patients. This guide provides key information for key clinical and non-clinical stakeholders about the role of biosimilar medicines in the NHS in England to support the safe, effective and consistent use of all biological medicines, including biosimilar medicines, to the benefit of patients.  
 
On 8 November 2022 the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) released updated Guidance on the licensing of biosimilar products, which states that “Once authorised, a biosimilar product is considered to be interchangeable with their reference product (RP), which means a prescriber can choose the biosimilar medicine over the RP (or vice versa) and expect to achieve the same therapeutic effect. Likewise, a biosimilar product is considered to be interchangeable with another biosimilar to the same RP”. The guidance further explains that “as a result of interchangeability, switching patients from one product to another (RP or biosimilar) has become clinical practice”. 
 
Any decision to move to a biosimilar medicine should first be made based on clinical judgement for individual patients and secondly, on the basis of the overall value proposition offered by individual medicines. It is important to consider appropriate engagement with key stakeholders, local implementation plans and timelines alongside monitoring and data collection.

The HIOW Prescribing Committee has approved a biosimilar position statement:

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Biosimilar Position Statement

The documents in this section will inform Practice Managers of the actions they need to take when a Non Medical Prescriber (NMP) joins or leaves the practice.

NMPs include nurses, midwives, pharmacists, physiotherapists, podiatrists, radiographers and optometrists who have a registered independent prescribing qualification.

The majority of NMPs currently employed in GP practices are nurses but some practices are now directly employing pharmacists and physiotherapists who have a prescribing qualification and to whom this notification also applies.

Health Innovation Wessex (previously AHSN)

  • Specialist Pharmacy Service Advice Contact Details
  • Specialist Pharmacy Service - Resources: Resources for pharmacy and other healthcare professionals including the Medicines Supply Tool, Renal Handbook, latest COVID vaccination and treatment resources, safety updates, webinars and other learning events. Requires registration (free) to access
  • NICE newsletters and alerts: subscribe to receive regular tailored email updates including Medicines and Prescribing Alerts, the Medicines Awareness Service, and NICE updates
  • BNF British National Formulary - NICE
  • BNF for Children British National Formulary - NICE
  • MDCalc - Medical calculators, equations, scores, and guidelines
  • Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC): Useful resources on a variety of subjects including funding, dispensing practies, Price Concessions, the kinds of services provided by community pharmacy contractors (Essential, Enhanced, National Enhanced)
  • Electronic Medicines Compendium: compendium of Summary of Product Chararcteristics (SmPC) and Patient Information Leaflets (PILs) for medicines licensed within the UK
  • NEWT Guidelines: information on administration of medicines in patients who are enterally fed or those who have dysphagia. Login details can be shared with PCN pharmacy teams; please contact your local MO Team (HERE) for details 
  • GP Evidence: Decision aids for GPs and other healthcare professionals to support treatment decisions with individual patients
  • Drug Tariff: payment and pricing information
  • Open Prescribing: easy to access, prescribing data analysis by practice, PCN or ICB (uses ePACT2 data); register (free) to receive regular email updates
  • ePACT2: (Electronic Prescribing and Cost Analysis Tool); useful dashboards available (for example, Polypharmacy, AMS, Opioid Prescribing, eRD usage), together with ability to build own analyses. Requires registration (free); use regularly or registration expires
  • FutureNHS platform: for connecting with (and sharing resources/ideas) local and national colleagues, in shared workspaces. Requires registration (free)
  • Fingertips: public health data; useful for identifying trends in population health and areas of Health Inequality
  • Local Health: from the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID); small area health-related data
  • Tabanalytics: analyses of performance across the healthcare sector including PCN Dashboards for IIF indicators
  • Primary Care Pharmacy Association - PCPA*: - useful resources and clinical webinars, events and hubs
  • PrescQIPP: learning and development resources; clinical masterclasses; horizon scanning for future developments. Their ‘Practice Plus’ resource is specifically aimed at PCN pharmacy professionals. Requires registration (free as part of the ICB subscription)
  • CPPE: learning and development for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. Requires registration (free)
  • i2i Pharmacist Network: training, implementing and networking platform for all pharmacists; clinical resources 
  • MORPh: training and development resources for pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, trainee pharmacists and pharmacy teams. Requires registration (free)
  • UK Clinical Pharmacy Association (UKCPA)*: learning and development resources; forums, support groups, and events
  • Association of UK Pharmacy Techncians (APTUK)*: national professional leadership body for pharmacy technicians; learning, development and training resources
  • Royal Pharmaceutical Society*: national professional leadership body for pharmacists 
  • Dictionary of Medicines and Devices (DM+D): a dictionary of descriptions and codes which represent medicines and devices in use across the NHS. Refreshed weekly. Includes: whether a product will be reimbursed by NHSBSA, indicative prices, current and discontinued products and packs available from manufacturers and suppliers. Webinars to support use are available via the link
  • Red Whale: Subscribe to receive free clinical updates (‘Pearls’). Further learning and development courses also available, for a fee

Please contact your local Medicines Optimisation Team (details HERE) if you require support in an area not covered in these resources, and we will endeavour to signpost you to alternatives. 
*Subscription required

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