In March 2023 NICE published TA875: Technology Appraisal guidance for semaglutide (Wegovy®) for managing overweight and obesity. The guidance recommends semaglutide as an option for weight management when prescribed by a specialist service alongside a reduced-calorie diet and increased physical activity in adults if they meet the criteria specified. This briefing aims to provide advice to prescribers on how the treatment can be accessed and which patient groups are eligible to receive Wegovy®. The document explains some of the limitations of the treatment and the evidence base, as described by NICE and may help to manage patient expectations.
At the time of publication the product is not yet available in the UK.
Monthly Formulary Amendments Documents list any NICE Technology Appraisals, NICE Guidelines, RMOC Guidance, MHRA Drug Safety Updates, and National Patient Safety Alerts published in the previous calendar month which may have an impact on local formularies and guidelines. This document is for APCs, and formulary committees to ensure formularies remain up to date, and in line with latest NICE guidance and safety information.
This edition covers guidance and alerts published in February 2023.
It includes a suggested formulary position for APCs/formulary committees, together with a summary of any financial/commissioning implications. The purpose of the document is to support consistent decision making by APCs.
This information is produced for use by NHS healthcare professionals and RDTC stakeholders.
Monthly Formulary Amendments Documents list any NICE Technology Appraisals, NICE Guidelines, RMOC Guidance, MHRA Drug Safety Updates, and National Patient Safety Alerts published in the previous calendar month which may have an impact on local formularies and guidelines. This document is for APCs, and formulary committees to ensure formularies remain up to date, and in line with latest NICE guidance and safety information.
This edition covers guidance and alerts published in January 2023.
It includes a suggested formulary position for APCs/formulary committees, together with a summary of any financial/commissioning implications. The purpose of the document is to support consistent decision making by APCs.
This information is produced for use by NHS healthcare professionals and RDTC stakeholders.
Formulary assessment tools are templates to support local decision making. They list NICE guidance, MHRA safety advice, and other relevant high quality advice and guidelines relevant to making decisions for local formularies.
The templates are pre-populated with useful information to reduce duplication of effort, with space for the addition of local information as appropriate. The purpose of the document is to support consistent decision making by formulary groups and APCs.
This information is produced for use by NHS healthcare professionals and RDTC stakeholders.
Prescribing for Population Health (PPH) is an ongoing series that aims to support ICSs to improve the health of the populations they serve. PPHs use prescribing data, biomedical literature and other data sources to provide new insights.
Problematic polypharmacy is a significant concern with overprescribing and occurs where the prescribing of multiple medicines is either inappropriate or where the intended benefit of the medication is not realised. Prescribing cascades contribute to problematic polypharmacy because they can lead to inappropriate medication use, adverse drug reactions, poor outcomes and increased healthcare resource use that could be avoided.
The publication aims to raise awareness of potential prescribing cascades and to highlight resources, tools, and strategies to help identify, prevent, and resolve inappropriate cascades.
Monthly horizon scanning reports are designed to inform the NHS about new products, significant changes to product licenses, significant new guidance, and decisions that have been made by recognised bodies.
This information is produced for use by NHS healthcare professionals.
Prescribing support newsletters aim to inform readers of work done by the unit and work in progress, to help tailor local work plans and highlight any ‘topical’ issues in prescribing or medicines management.
If you have any suggestions for future topics for the newsletter, then please contact nuth.nyrdtc.rxsupp@nhs.net
This month’s edition focuses on RDTC resources to help you make the most of your budget, updates to the cost comparison charts, the voluntary recall of certain FreeStyle Libre 2 sensors, and an E-learning programme on internet safety, suicide, and self-harm. It highlights recent publications from the RDTC including a series of publications as part of the Polypharmacy and Overprescribing theme reviewing opioid prescribing, and a Prescribing Bulletin looking at the budget impact of Metformin immediate release 1g tablets. It also includes another in the series of “Meet the Team” where you can get to know the people behind the work we do. There is also information on some key medicines availability issues and serious shortage protocols
Prescribing for Population Health (PPH) is an ongoing series that aims to support ICSs to improve the health of the populations they serve. PPHs use prescribing data, biomedical literature and other data sources to provide new insights.
In recent years, there has been increasing concern regarding the overprescribing of opioids and associated harms. The RDTC has produced a series of publications as part of the Polypharmacy and Overprescribing theme reviewing opioid prescribing:
Each publication includes considerations and interventions for medicines optimisation teams and health systems. To avoid duplication across this series of overprescribing and polypharmacy opioid publications, the suggested actions have only been listed in the most relevant theme but may apply across all. We recommend reading all parts of the series sequentially to ensure the breadth of potential actions are known.
This is the third part of the series which focuses on the population health management of patients prescribed opioids, specifically in terms of deprivation level and the impact on sustainability and climate change.
Use the following links to access the first part in the series entitled ‘Opioid patient populations’ and the second in the series entitled ‘Opioid patient demographics’
Prescribing for Population Health (PPH) is an ongoing series that aims to support ICSs to improve the health of the populations they serve. PPHs use prescribing data, biomedical literature and other data sources to provide new insights.
In recent years, there has been increasing concern regarding the overprescribing of opioids and associated harms. The RDTC has produced a series of publications as part of the Polypharmacy and Overprescribing theme reviewing opioid prescribing:
Each publication includes considerations and interventions for medicines optimisation teams and health systems. To avoid duplication across this series of overprescribing and polypharmacy opioid publications, the suggested actions have only been listed in the most relevant theme but may apply across all. We recommend reading all parts of the series sequentially to ensure the breadth of potential actions are known.
This is the second part of the series which focuses on the demographics of the patient populations prescribed opioids.
Use the following link to access the first part in the series entitled ‘Opioid patient populations’
Prescribing for Population Health (PPH) is an ongoing series that aims to support ICSs to improve the health of the populations they serve. PPHs use prescribing data, biomedical literature and other data sources to provide new insights.
In recent years, there has been increasing concern regarding the overprescribing of opioids and associated harms. The RDTC has produced a series of publications as part of the Polypharmacy and Overprescribing theme reviewing opioid prescribing:
Each publication includes considerations and interventions for medicines optimisation teams and health systems. To avoid duplication across this series of overprescribing and polypharmacy opioid publications, the suggested actions have only been listed in the most relevant theme but may apply across all. We recommend reading all parts of the series sequentially to ensure the breadth of potential actions are known.
In this first part of the series, the focus is on the patient populations prescribed opioids and the inter-relationships and dependencies between prescribing and the available metrics.
