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
NHS England specialised commissining resources: the clinical reference group responsible for allergy and immunology has published a commissioning policy that defines access to a particular service for a cohort of patients.
The Pan Mersey Area Prescribing Committee recommends the prescribing of ICOSAPENT ETHYL capsules (Vazkepa®▼) with statin therapy, for reducing the risk of cardiovascular events in people with raised triglycerides in accordance with NICE TA805.
NHS Cheshire and Merseyside APPROVED
The Pan Mersey Area Prescribing Committee recommends the prescribing of infliximab infusion for rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis and adult-onset Still’s disease, as well as in patients fitting other criteria commissioned by Pan Mersey CCGs, as listed.
The Pan Mersey Area Prescribing Committee recommends the prescribing of INSULIN DEGLUDEC 100units/mL and 200 units/mL solution for subcutaneous injection (Tresiba®), initiated by specialists only, for type 1 and type 2 diabetes for specific patient groups, taking into account NICE guidance
Ivabradine has been approved by NICE (TA 267)1 as an option for treating chronic heart failure following specialist initiation in patients with chronic, stable heart failure (NYHA class II-IV), left ventricular systolic dysfunction (LVEF 35% or less) and who are in sinus rhythm with a heart rate of 75 beats per minute or more.
NHS England specialised commissining resources: the clinical reference group responsible for cystic fibrosis has published a commissioning policy that defines access to a particular service for a cohort of patients.