Planning ahead for key new medicines and NICE guidance 2008/2009

Key topics to inform budget setting and service impact planning

The National Prescribing Centre (NPC) has produced a key document, Planning Ahead, designed to help NHS organisations to develop appropriate plans for managing those new medicines where the clinical and/or resource impact may be sufficiently high to require a local impact assessment and plan of introduction.

The document focuses on fifteen topics comprising new medicines and NICE technology appraisals that are either recently available or, may be due in the next 18 months or so. Each topic review provides a short summary of information to help consider the potential clinical, resource and service-related implications. These reviews may be freely used within England either individually or as a set. Other complementary resources are signposted within the document.

Planning Ahead is available on the NPC website as is the entire NPC New Medicines portfolio (including New Medicines Alert, which provides a brief summary about a selected medicine at time of launch). You may register on the NPC website to receive email alerts concerning new medicines developments.

This resource is intended for use by PCT Pharmaceutical Advisers, Directors of Public Health, GP leads and hospital Chief Pharmacists. You may wish to highlight its availability to other colleagues involved in service and budgetary planning, such as Chief Executives, Directors of Commissioning, Practice Based Commissioning Leads, Finance Directors, Heads of Medicines Management teams, Prescribing Committee members and NICE Implementation Leads.

The NPC would welcome feedback on this document and comments may be sent by e-mail to katrina.simister@npc.nhs.uk