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May 2020 Price Concessions – final update

Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has today (29/05/2020) set the FINAL price concessions for May 2020. The new additions to the May 2020 price concession list are below: Drug Pack size Price Concession Carbocisteine 375mg capsules 120 £6.87 Clarithromycin 250mg/5ml oral suspension 70ml £8.60 Clonidine 25microgram tablets 112 £13.62 Duloxetine 20mg gastro-resistant capsules...

5 hours ago

PSNC considers next steps for the sector at May meeting

The PSNC Committee met virtually last week, holding detailed discussions on which activities community pharmacies should stop, start or continue to do in the current and coming environment. Immediate priorities such as the NHS Flu Vaccination Service were considered as well as the role that pharmacies could play in future COVID-19 services such as testing....

6 hours ago

Supply Notification: Stanek® (levodopa/ carbidopa/ entacapone) tablets – various strengths – Update

Update – availability now expected to be: 100mg/25mg/200mg – Mid July 2020 150mg/37.5mg/200mg – Early August 2020 Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has issued a medicine supply notification for Stanek® (levodopa/carbidopa/entacapone) tablets – various strengths Stanek® tablets (various strengths) are out of stock. The anticipated re-supply dates range between mid June 2020...

7 hours ago

Palliative Care Formulary Service

West Yorkshire-wide Palliative Care Formulary Service

NHSE&I Letter - Updated Palliative Care Formulary April 2020

Palliative Care - SLA

Palliative Care - Revised Formulary

PharmOutcomes - Instructions for Use

Contact Details for Specialist Palliative Care Services

Pharmacies commissioned to provide this service stock a locally agreed list of medicines and make a commitment to ensure that the users of the service have prompt access to these medicines, in response to the presentation of an NHS prescription, during the pharmacies' contracted opening hours.

Please note: Other pharmacies will routinely stock many, if not all, of these drugs as part of their usual dispensary stock.

In the event of there being insufficient stock to fill an immediate need the pharmacy will liaise with another community pharmacy in the service with stock and/or other local community pharmacies. The pharmacy will aim to locate a pharmacy with sufficient in-date stock and request that they reserve that stock for collection by the user. If no further stock can be located the pharmacy will contact the prescriber to discuss a suitable alternative.

This service is available within the pharmacies opening hours only (available from NHS Choices www.nhs.uk). Outside these hours requests should be directed to the Out of Hours Service Provider for the relevant area.

The previous service ended on 30th April 2018. Please see Termination Letter below.

Palliative Care - Termination Letter - 15th January 2018

Change to Morphine Injection as First Line Opioid Analgesic across Primary and Secondary Care – Calderdale, Kirklees and Wakefield - 6th April 2020

Calderdale and Huddersfield Foundation NHS Trust together with Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust have made the decision to make a change to use morphine injection as the first line opioid analgesic in palliative care across primary and secondary care from Monday 6th April 2020. More information can be found under the area headings below.

Palliative Care - General

The novel “wheel” or “spider diagram” format of this guideline was developed by St Gemma’s Hospice over 15 years ago, to support

the safe conversion between different opioids
enable the safe administration of the same opioid by a different route
to calculate and check the accuracy of “PRN” doses of opioids for patients receiving regular opioids

St Gemma’s clinical team, including Professor Michael Bennett, St Gemma’s Professor of Palliative Medicine, have updated the guideline in line with current company data and seminal specialist palliative care resources.

Although the current (2006) version of the guideline was never formally distributed to non-specialist palliative care providers across Leeds, many have a copy and have found it a useful resource.

The updated 2016 guideline is now approved for use by both specialist and non-specialist palliative care use across Leeds, supported by a project led by the Leeds Palliative Care Managed Clinical Network (MCN).

It is expected that non-specialists will predominantly continue to use the guide as a checking tool. If any discrepancies or queries arise during this checking process the prescriber must be contacted.

Prescribers are responsible for their own decisions. It is imperative to read the notes on the right hand side of the document and seek specialist palliative care advice as needed.

The Leeds Opioid Conversion Guide For Adult Palliative Care Patients 2016 is available as a PDF document on: