Greater Glasgow and Clyde Medicines

This post summarises the latest NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde decisions relating to new medicines assessed by SMC and considered by the Area Drug and Therapeutics Committee (ADTC) and uses a nationally developed format specifically aimed for patients and the public.

For full details of the medicines included in this post that are available for use, including any restrictions on prescribing, please see the relevant entry in the GGC Formulary

Key Messages

• Scottish Government guidance suggests that people of all age groups should consider taking a daily vitamin D supplement of 10 micrograms (400 International Units (IU)) daily particularly during the winter months (October to March)
• Pregnant and breastfeeding women and children under 3 (receiving less than 500ml of infant formula daily) can obtain free supplies of vitamin D via their community pharmacy as detailed HERE
• Those who are not eligible for free supplies of vitamin D can purchase a vitamin D supplement at pharmacies, supermarkets and online

All adult patients prescribed metolazone should receive the new licensed product Xaqua®

Errors involving insulin can cause serious harm to patients. A series of blogs have been published to help explain the key principles of safe insulin prescribing and administration during inpatient admission and at discharge.
The blogs cover medicines reconciliation, prescribing, administration and discharge.

Key points:

Increased risk of fracture, hypomagnesaemia and subacute cutaneous lupus erythematosus (SCLE) are significant adverse effects associated with PPI use that have been reported by the MHRA.

MHRA Drug Safety Update January 2023

Key Messages:

• Polypharmacy guidance can be used by all healthcare professionals to improve patient care
• Pay particular attention to high risk medicines such as anticholinergics, antipsychotics and benzodiazepines as well as any medicine linked to falls
• Frailty can cause loss of function (including falls and confusion) and can be improved by early identification and polypharmacy medication review

• DOACs are high risk medicines commonly associated with prescribing errors
• Prescribing errors can lead to significant adverse events such as major bleeding or increased thrombotic risk due to suboptimal treatment
• When prescribing a DOAC, the following patient/clinical parameters must be considered: indication, age, actual body weight, renal/hepatic function, past medical history and concomitant medicines