‘We need a new medicines related chart/leaflet/guideline!' Or do we?
Key messages:
- Prior to the development of new clinical paperwork (guideline, chart, leaflet) in NHSGGC it’s the author’s responsibility to check for pre-existing documents first
- To avoid duplication refer to Part 1 below
- If new clinical paperwork is required, advice on potential approval routes is given in Part 2 below
Does this sound familiar?
- ‘This NHSGGC guideline is missing out on important information for prescribers! Let’s write a different guideline for our team/hospital site addressing this issue’
- ‘We need to improve prescribing and administration safety for this medicine! Too many Datixes recently. Let’s create a prescription/administration chart!’
These are good examples of initiatives, showing real commitment to patient safety and prescriber support, however, can you also relate to this?
‘Another chart? Another information leaflet? A different guideline from that in the Therapeutic Handbooks/Clinical Guideline Directory? How am I supposed to know which one to use?’
Part 1) Before creating new NHSGGC guidelines/clinical paperwork/information leaflets relating to medicines, please think:
a) ‘Let’s minimise my workload. Does the information already exist?’ Check:
- NHSGGC Clinical Guideline Directory
- NHSGGC Adult Therapeutics Handbook
- ‘Prescribing resources’ and ‘patient information’ sections on GGC Medicines website
- NHSGGC Prescription Chart Framework (on StaffNet) for information and existing charts
- Medical illustration for any material they have already printed on your topic (email addresses in main NHSGGC email address book)
- Your local pharmacy team and your head of department/service
- Colleagues providing the same or similar services in NHSGGC; in other Scottish health boards; in the rest of the UK (in that order) for any material they may have already created
- UK national guidelines
- Recognised specialist interest groups or charities e.g. patient.info, Diabetes uk for information which could be adapted to NHSGGC
- The literature or ask NHSGGC library services to support you with this via library.network@ggc.scot.nhs.uk
b) ‘Found one!’ Think about:
- Is the source reliable and of good reputation in the UK, is it still in date and providing accurate up-to-date information?
- Are authors and publication/review dates listed (good governance markers)
- Is the information in line with current NHSGGC clinical procedures/ guidelines/ medicines or product formularies?
c) ‘Yes, found one BUT they’re not user-friendly/ missing important information/ are out of date.’
- Check with your local pharmacy team, peers and/or senior colleagues – do they support adapting external information for NHSGGC use?
- Before considering changing any existing NHSGGC clinical paperwork, contact NHSGGC author(s), approving committee or service leads with your suggestions. Authors and Committees are usually listed on the front page of clinical guidelines or in the specific Clinical Guideline Directory entries.
- For Therapeutics Handbook: contact the editorial group via Therapeutics.Handbook@ggc.scot.nhs.uk with your suggestions.
Part 2) If you think there is a need to develop new clinical paperwork (guideline/chart/leaflet) then consider where you could get support and what review/approval process it needs to go through
‘We really just need this medicines related information for our site/service/department! So we can just write it and don’t need wider approval’
a) Is your service provision truly unique? Would colleagues providing the same/ similar service at other hospital sites and their patients benefit from having the same clinical paperwork? i.e. a single standardised GGC resource.
b) Collaboration can spread the workload involved in summarising information well and ensure the end product is most useful to colleagues and patients.
c) The relevant contacts and committees below can also help you understand the wider context of the information you want to provide e.g. local and/or national work already in progress.
‘We have a new idea and have peer & senior support. Where do we take it from here? How do we get it approved?'
a) Clinical guidelines containing medicines
Check which group needs to approve it via the guideline framework information on StaffNet or email clinical.guidelines@ggc.scot.nhs.uk and specify that it is a medicine related guideline.
To check whether a guideline could be included in the Therapeutics Handbook please email Therapeutics.Handbook@ggc.scot.nhs.uk.
b) Prescription charts for medicines
Check the Prescription Chart Framework document (on StaffNet) for advice and contact Safer Use of Medicines sub-committee via Alister.maclaren@ggc.scot.nhs.uk.
c) Patient Information leaflets for medicines
Check with your Managed Clinical Networks (MCN)/ local pharmacy team/ Chief of Medicine whether they can support progressing this.
Make sure your document goes through the ‘Clear to all’ process on StaffNet and adheres to the Patient & Public Health Information Management Policy.
Liaise with Medical Illustration regarding design and printing processes, PECOS codes etc.
For further information on the ADTC sub-committees and their remits please click here.
Thank you for making NHSGGC documents the best they can be and reduce duplication!
Published 01/10/2021, updated 04/02/2022. Medicines Update blogs are correct at the time of publication.