Palliative Care Formulary Service
Pharmacies commissioned to provide this service keep a stock of a locally agreed list of medicines* and make a commitment to ensure that the users of the service have prompt access to these medicines when presented with an NHS prescription, in response to the presentation of an NHS prescription.
In the event of there being insufficient stock to fill an immediate need, pharmacies that are commissioned to provide this service will liaise with another community pharmacy in the service and/or other local community pharmacies to try and find a pharmacy with sufficient in-date stock. If no further stock can be located the pharmacy will contact the prescriber to discuss a suitable alternative.
*Note – other pharmacies, (e.g. who are not commissioned to provide the Palliative Care Formulary Service), will also routinely stock many, if not all, of these drugs as part of their usual dispensary stock.
This service is commissioned across West Yorkshire by the West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (WY ICB). For details or queries about the service please contact the WY ICB by emailing wyicb.pharmacy@nhs.net.
Palliative Care SLA – April 2018 to March 2021 (Extended to 31st March 2026)
Palliative Care Service Extension Letter – to March 2022
Palliative Care Service Extension Letter – to March 2023
Formulary
Palliative Care – Revised Formulary (& Information for Health Care Professionals) 2023
Resources
Contact Details for Specialist Palliative Care Services
Briefing Note for Pharmacies Providing the Palliative Care Service
PharmOutcomes – Instructions for Use
Pharmacies that Provide the Service
A list of pharmacies participating in the scheme is sent out by the WY ICB to key organisations before each Bank Holiday.
Health professionals can also use the NHS Service Finder to locate a community pharmacy who routinely holds palliative and end of life critical medicines. (Note: the search will return both pharmacies who are commissioned to provide the Palliative Care Formulary Service AND pharmacies who have declared under the Pharmacy Quality Scheme that they routinely hold the nationally defined 16 palliative and end of life critical medicines).
NHS Service Finder – https://digital.nhs.uk/services/nhs-service-finder
For a guide on using NHS Service Finder to locate a community pharmacy that stocks palliative care medication, click here.
End of Life Care Daffodil Standards for Community Pharmacy
Community pharmacies can now sign up to the Daffodil Standards for palliative and end of life care, aimed at improving the care provided to patients approaching the end of their life. The Daffodil Standards are a partnership by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society and the charity Marie Curie.
Community pharmacies will be able to display the ‘daffodil mark’ as a sign of their commitment to improving the care they provide, as they work through the self-assessment and actions for the eight individual Daffodil Standards. The Standards also align with and complement the Royal College of General Practitioners and Marie Curie Daffodil Standards already used by general practices.
Palliative Care – General
The Leeds Opioid Conversion Guide For Adult Palliative Care Patients 2016 is available as a PDF document on:
- The Leeds Palliative Care Website: https://leedspalliativecare.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Leeds-Opioid-Conversion-Guide-For-Adult-Palliative-Care-Patients.pdf
- Leeds Health Pathways
- EPaCCS
Last Updated: 2nd April 2025
