Greater Glasgow and Clyde Medicines

Medicines Update

For all healthcare professionals across NHSGGC both in primary care and the acute sector.

Please note, Medicines Update blogs are correct at the time of publication.

Medicines Update blogs remain on the website for 4 years. If you would like a copy of a blog published more than 4 years ago, please contact  medicines.update@ggc.scot.nhs.uk.

Click here for a promotional poster on Medicines Update and here for an animation on the Communications subcommittee of ADTC resposnsible for the development of Medicines Update.

If you would like to contribute to Medicines Update, click here for a guide to blog writing and the checklist to complete prior to submitting a blog to the Communications Subcommittee of ADTC.

06/09/2023 announcement

Accessing GGC Clinical Guidelines via Medicines Update blogs and the Adult Therapeutics Handbook 

GGC Clinical Guidelines have migrated to the Right Decisions for Health and Care platform. As a result of the migration, direct links to GGC guidelines within Medicines Update blogs (and the Adult Therapeutics Handbook, GGC Medicines App) currently go to the homepage and not individual guidelines. This change was out with our control. 
Please note, there is a message on the homepage highlighting intermittent issues with the search function, therefore, if you cannot find a guideline via the search box, select the relevant category from the homepage or if the guideline still can't be found, contact clinical.guidelines@ggc.scot.nhs.uk. 
An update will be provided in due course.

TrakCare Referral to the Anticoagulation Service

Posted: Tuesday, February 1, 2022

Category - Medicines Update

Prior to discharge, a prescriber must refer all patients on, or to be commenced on warfarin (or acenocoumarol) to the Glasgow and Clyde Anticoagulation Service (GCAS).  This should be regardless of whether: 

  • Their anticoagulation is considered stable or not
  • They had an appointment arranged prior to admission
Read More...

Hospital Medicines added to GP practice prescription record

Posted: Wednesday, January 12, 2022

Category - Medicines Update

Adding “outside” medicines (those prescribed and supplied outside the practice) to patient prescriptions will result in:

  • Safer prescribing: prescription record is complete allowing GP practice clinical decision support to flag drug interactions
  • Increased patient safety: these medicines appear in the Emergency Care Summary (ECS)
  • Improved medicines reconciliation: due to more complete record of prescribing in ECS
Read More...

COVID-19 Treatment Update - Dec 2021

Posted: Friday, December 10, 2021

Category - Medicines Update

Ronapreve® is now indicated in two distinct patient populations:

Group 1: Patients admitted unwell with COVID-19 who are negative for baseline serum anti-spike (anti-S) antibodies against SARS-CoV-2.

Group 2: Patients with early hospital onset COVID-19 who are at high risk of progression to severe COVID-19 or in whom COVID-19 infection presents a material risk of destabilising a pre-existing condition or illness or compromising recovery from surgery or other hospital procedure.

Read More...