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About the SPS Medicines Governance Do Once Programme

Last updated See all updates
Topics: Policy, Commissioning and Managerial

The programme reduces duplication of effort and improves quality and consistency through national templates and medicines policy and governance principles

Contents

  1. Background
    1. National recommendations
    2. SPS implementation
  3. Medicines Governance Principles
  4. National PGD, protocol and Written Instruction templates
    1. Decision to develop SPS templates
    2. Process for developing SPS templates
    3. Published SPS templates
    4. Exemplar SPS templates
    5. Implementing the SPS templates
  6. Update history

Background

National recommendations

Lord Carter’s review into unwarranted variations in mental health and community health services recommends improving both efficiency and productivity in the NHS by standardising the development and distribution of Patient Group Directions (PGDs), medicines policies, and other essential organisational governance documents. The aim is to release local resource that can be redeployed to optimise outcomes from medicines use.

SPS implementation

SPS established a Medicines Governance Do Once (MGDO) Programme Board to oversee production of “Do Once” templates and products to meet the identified recommendations.

Using programme outputs

The outputs are intended for use by NHS commissioned and publicly funded services in England, and will benefit them by providing and ensuring:

  • Consistency, quality and reduced variability
  • Alignment with national guidance
  • Increased organisational capacity releasing local resources to work within other medicines optimisation areas

Medicines Governance Principles

Medicines governance principles are developed with the aim of enabling the dissemination of key points for local consideration.

Medicines policies, governance principles and associated resources will be developed using existing good practice examples and consensus opinion from Subject Matter Experts (SME), who are recognised leaders in their area.

Published SPS Medicines Governance Principles:

National PGD, protocol and Written Instruction templates

PGD, protocol and Written Instruction (WI) templates are developed by Short Life Working Groups (SLWGs) which include SMEs and relevant national clinical bodies. SMEs are recognised leaders working in the clinical environment in which the templates will be used.

The templates have an expiry date and will be reviewed and re-published prior to reaching this. Earlier review will be undertaken where relevant changes to the product SmPC or other updated guidance are apparent.

Decision to develop SPS templates

PGDs, protocol or Written Instructions are not always the best solution, and consideration will always be given to SPS advice on appropriateness and alternative mechanisms for supply and administration of medicines discussed in When not to use a PGD (SPS page).

Decisions to develop templates under the national Medicines Governance Do Once Programme depend on a variety of factors.

For more information, please refer to the process documents and Considerations for developing national PGD and protocol templates (SPS page)

Process for developing SPS templates

Further detail on the process by which templates are created and reviewed by SPS can be found in the attached process documents.

Published SPS templates

The National PGD, protocol and written instructions templates (SPS page) page contains the published SPS PGD, Written Instruction and protocol templates.

Exemplar SPS templates

Exemplar blank SPS PGD templates, based on the versions used to develop the national PGD templates by SPS, are available and organisations may decide to use these when developing their own PGDs.

There are two PGD templates: one specifically for antimicrobials and one for all other suitable medicines.

Access the SPS National Patient Group Direction (PGD) exemplar templates (SPS page)

Implementing the SPS templates

For advice on implementing the SPS PGD templates please visit Implementing the SPS Patient Group Direction, Written Instruction and protocol templates (SPS page)

Update history

  1. Republished
  2. Page contents reviewed - no changes to content required but some re ordering of page layout to improve flow.
  1. Republished
  2. Attachments all re published with reference to SPS X account removed. No other changes made.
  1. Updated processes published
  1. Minor formatting and broken link updates
  1. Further information removed and broken links fixed
  1. PGD workplan replaced with link to new page
  1. Updated PGD workplan added
  1. Updated workplan added
  1. Link added to Implementing the National Patient Group Direction (PGD) Templates webpage
  1. Updated work plan added
  1. Updated workplan and PGD process added. New protocol process added.
  1. Updated workplan added to reflect recent publication
  1. Updated PGD workplan added
  1. Updated PGD and WI development processes added
  1. Page re-formatted with minor content amendments.
  1. Updated to reflect addition of antimicrobial PGD exemplar template.
  1. Published