Medicines formulary guidance

The formulary guidance has been agreed across the trust and should be used to inform the selection of medicines, and their use, in its provision of mental health services.

These services will develop as a result of new therapies, emergent evidence and changes in commissioning intention.

The formulary guidance will:

• be a constantly evolving and dynamic document, providing guidance on appropriate and cost-effective prescribing
• contain some prescribing notes with key messages on best practice
• aim to help prescribers choose the most appropriate medicines whilst ensuring value for money in the use of NHS resources

Current trust formulary guidance

• Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder formulary guidance
• Anxiety formulary guidance
• Bipolar formulary guidance
• Dementia formulary guidance
• Depression formulary guidance
• Insomnia formulary guidance
• Schizophrenia formulary guidance

However, we provide services across a number of geographical locations where local health communities have their own agreed formularies for therapeutic areas away from mental health.

To ensure consistency of therapy and access to medicines the prescribers in the trust should utilise those local formularies to inform their non-mental health prescribing.

Local formulary guidance is available at:

• Doncaster medicines formulary (opens in new window)
• Rotherham medicines formulary (opens in new window)
• North Lincolnshire medicines formulary (opens in new window)

Rarely, a prescriber may choose to prescribe outside the formulary because, for example, a specific patient requires more bespoke treatment.

In these cases the rationale should be clearly documented, and the prescriber should be prepared to justify their prescribing. For further information prescribers should refer to the:

• British national formulary (opens in new window)
• specific product characteristics (SPC) medicines EMC (opens in new window)

Antimicrobial prescribing

Prescribing of antimicrobials both in community and on wards should be guided by locally agreed formularies or guidelines.

Links below provide access to guidelines which have been agreed by clinical commissioning groups for use by their primary care contractors.

These should be used in the first instance to guide your antimicrobial prescribing unless the condition you are treating is not covered by the relevant guide or you have good clinical reason not to.

In these situations you should use the HPA guidance (opens in new window), summary of antimicrobial prescribing guidance managing common infections, and or take guidance from your local microbiology department, and make appropriate record of the rationale in the patient record.

Consultants wishing to review a formulary section or have new agents or therapy considered for inclusion should contact:

• Andrew Houston, Senior Pharmacist
• Stephen Davies, Chief Pharmacist

Page last reviewed: November 08, 2024
Next review due: November 08, 2025