Recommendations
This section contains a list of the policy recommendations of the Pan Mersey Area Prescribing Committee.
Reviews of the new medicines have been conducted by our pharmacists using a number of resources including National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) which is a Special health Authority (SHA) set up in 1999. It is used to give advice to the NHS on best clinical practice including the clinical and cost effectiveness of drugs and other treatments.
Definitions and criteria for the categorisation of medicines
Legacy Merseyside
New Cheshire and Merseyside
Transition of Commissioning Policies
On 1st July 2022 NHS Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care Board (ICB) became the new statutory body responsible for ensuring health care services are available to meet the reasonable needs of the people of Cheshire & Merseyside.
Until such time as a single suite of commissioning policies can be developed and adopted, NHS Cheshire and Merseyside will continue to adopt and operate the CCG policies it has inherited at Place/borough level, which means that there will be no immediate change in commissioning policy for local people resident in those Places/boroughs from what was in place prior to 1st July 2022.
Documents
The Pan Mersey Area Prescribing Committee recommends the prescribing of BRIVARACETAM tablets/oral solution (Briviact®▼) for adjunctive treatment of focal seizures following initiation by a consultant neurologist.
AMBER patient retained by specialist NHS Wirral CCG
The Pan Mersey Area Prescribing Committee recommends the prescribing of CARIPRAZINE hard capsules (Reagila®▼), following specialist initiation, as a non-first line treatment option for adult patients with predominant negative symptoms of schizophrenia.
The Pan Mersey Area Prescribing Committee recommends the prescribing of CENOBAMATE tablets (Ontozry®▼), following specialist initiation, for treating focal onset seizures in adults with epilepsy in accordance with NICE TA753.
The Cheshire and Merseyside Interim Area Prescribing Group recommends the prescribing of EPTINEZUMAB injection (Vyepti®▼), by specialists only, for the prevention of episodic and chronic migraine in accordance with NICE TA871.
NHS Cheshire and Merseyside APPROVED
The Cheshire and Merseyside Interim Area Prescribing Group does not recommend the prescribing of ESKETAMINE nasal spray (Spravato®▼) for treatment-resistant depression in adults in accordance with NICE TA854.
NHS Cheshire and Merseyside APPROVED
The Pan Mersey Area Prescribing Committee recommends the prescribing of melatonin for the treatment of persistent chronic sleep disorders in the circumstances where sleep hygiene measures have been insufficient.
Management of sleep disorders in children and adults - flowchart
The Pan Mersey Area Prescribing Committee recommends the prescribing of methadone tablets (Physeptone®) in adults following initiation by a consultant in pain medicine in a tertiary centre.
Red Halton Place and Sefton Place
The Pan Mersey Area Prescribing Committee recommends the prescribing of NALMEFENE (Selincro®) within its marketing authorisation, as an option for reducing alcohol consumption in adults with alcohol dependence, in line with NICE TA325.
Refer to Pan Mersey formulary for RAG status for each individual CCG.
The Pan Mersey Area Prescribing Committee recommends the prescribing of OPICAPONE (Ongentys®▼) following specialist recommendation as add-on therapy in adult patients with Parkinson’s disease.
BLACK NHS West Lancashire CCG
The Pan Mersey Area Prescribing Committee does not recommend the prescribing of PITOLISANT HYDROCHLORIDE film-coated tablets (Ozawade®) for treating excessive daytime sleepiness caused by obstructive sleep apnoea, in accordance with NICE TA776.
The Pan Mersey Area Prescribing Committee recommends the prescribing of PITOLISANT tablets (Wakix®▼), by specialists working in a regional and national tertiary commissioned sleep service only, for the treatment of narcolepsy with or without cataplexy in adult patients in accordance with the Aintree University Hospital Sleep Service Pathway for Narcolepsy.
The Pan Mersey Area Prescribing Committee recommends that IMMEDIATE RELEASE QUETIAPINE is the preferred formulation of quetiapine for prescribing across the Pan Mersey Area.
AMBER RETAINED NHS Southport and Formby, NHS South Sefton CCG
NHS Cheshire and Merseyside recommends the prescribing of RIMEGEPANT oral lyophilisate (Vydura®▼), following specialist initiation, for preventing migraine in accordance with NICE TA906.
NHS Cheshire and Merseyside APPROVED
The Pan Mersey Area Prescribing Committee recommends the prescribing of SAFINAMIDE (Xadago®▼) following specialist recommendation in the management of mid to late stage Parkinson’s disease.
BLACK NHS West Lancashire CCG
Pan Mersey Area Prescribing Committee recommends the prescribing of SODIUM OXYBATE oral solution, by specialists working in a regional and national tertiary commissioned sleep service only, for the treatment of narcolepsy with cataplexy in adult patients in accordance with the Aintree University Hospital Sleep Service Pathway for Narcolepsy.
The Pan Mersey Area Prescribing Committee does not recommend the prescribing of SOLIRAMFETOL tablets (Sunosi®▼), for treating excessive daytime sleepiness caused by obstructive sleep apnoea in accordance with NICE TA777.
The Pan Mersey Area Prescribing Committee recommends the prescribing of solriamfetol tablets (Sunosi®▼), by specialists only, for treating excessive daytime sleepiness caused by narcolepsy in accordance with NICE TA758.
The Pan Mersey Area Prescribing Committee recommends the prescribing of TAPENTADOL prolonged release tablets (Palexia® SR) for severe chronic pain in adults only when initiated by chronic pain specialists or palliative care specialists