Prescribing

When prescribing in general practice you should refer to the Derbyshire Medicines Management website:

www.derbyshiremedicinesmanagement.nhs.uk/medicines-management

This provides medical guidance for Derbyshire and should be your first port of call when finding out what medication is appropriate for indication. This includes the local antimicrobial guidelines.

In Derbyshire there is a “Traffic Light Classification” of medications which is available on Medicines Management – this outlines which medications you are allowed to prescribe in general practice and which medications are not allowed to be prescribed or have restrictions placed on them:

  • Green – suitable to prescribe in general practice
  • Grey – not recommended for use except in exceptional circumstances
  • Amber – medications initiated by secondary care. GP can only prescribe under a shared care protocol when a patient is on a stable dose.
  • Red – medications that can only be prescribed by secondary care services. Not to be prescribed in general practice.
  • DNP – DO NOT PRESCRIBE. These medications would require an application for an Individual Funding Request (IFR) to allow them to be initiated in general practice.

Online Clinical Resources

Local Clinical Guidelines - Derbyshire Medicines Management:

http://www.derbyshiremedicinesmanagement.nhs.uk/medicines-management

Southern Derbyshire Shared Care Pathology Guidelines - this is the guideline that you should use for abnormal blood results and associated referral criteria - https://www.uhdb.nhs.uk/shared-care-pathology-guidelines

National Guidelines: https://cks.nice.org.uk/