Over the counter medicines
Your GP, nurse or pharmacist will not generally give you a prescription for certain medicines that are available to buy in a pharmacy or supermarket, even if you qualify for free prescriptions. Please use this link for further information.
Items not prescribed on the NHS
In 2019 NHS England issued guidance on a number of medicinal products which should not be routinely prescribed in primary care. These include:
- Products of low clinical effectiveness, where there is a lack of robust evidence of clinical effectiveness or there are significant safety concerns;
- Products which are clinically effective but where more cost-effective products are available, including some products that have been subject to excessive price inflation; and
- Products which are clinically effective but due to the nature of the product are deemed a low priority for NHS funding.
The national guidance is available here.
The ICB had adopted this guidance and developed patient information leaflets for each category.
- Bath and shower emollients
- Co-proxamol
- Dosulepin
- Doxazosin
- Fentanyl IR
- Glucosamine & chondroitin
- Herbal treatments
- Homeopathy
- Lidocaine plasters
- Lutein and anti-oxident supplements
- Omega 3 fatty acid compounds
- Oxycodone and naloxone
- Paracetamol and tramadol
- Perindopril arginine
- Rubefacients
- Tadalafil
- Travel vaccines
- Trimipramine