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NHSGGC Adult Medicines Formulary

www.ggcmedicines.org.uk

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) aims to promote high-quality, cost-effective prescribing in all areas of care. 

Good prescribing dictates that the choice of therapy should be made on the basis of sound clinical evidence of efficacy, safety and also takes into consideration patient acceptability and cost effectiveness. The NHSGGC Adult Medicines Formulary takes the above into account when considering a medicine for inclusion and therefore prescribing from the Formulary is consistent with good clinical practice.

Structure of the Formulary

The NHSGGC Formulary contains two main sections, the Preferred List and the Total Formulary.

The Preferred List is composed of approximately 350 medicines which represent the first-line agents for many classes of medicine and cover many common conditions and diseases. It is primarily aimed at the generalist prescriber, and those specialists prescribing outwith their specialty. For that reason, various therapeutic areas are not suitable for inclusion in the Preferred List, for example oncology medicines.

The Total Formulary comprises all other formulary medicines and generally contains specialist medicines and second and third-line agents from classes included in the Preferred List.

Update June 2026: over the next 2 years the NHSGGC Formulary will be merged into the new West of Scotland Formulary (WoSF) on a chapter-by-chapter basis. The home page of the GGC Medicines website will keep users up-to-date as each chapter is transferred to WoSF content (see below on where to find formulary information).

Please note that the new regional formulary presents recommendations using a condition-based pathway structure, moving away from the traditional BNF-style list format used in the NHSGGC Adult Medicines Formulary. More details are provided in this introductory Medicines Update blog: West of Scotland Regional Formulary - Launch of First Chapters (April 2026).

In principle, all licensed medicines referred to in this Handbook should be included in either the NHSGGC Adult Medicines Formulary or the WoSF; however, there may be some discrepancies until the formulary merger is completed and all guidelines have been aligned to any changed formulary choices.

Non-Formulary prescribing and processes

The need for prescription of medicines from outwith the Formulary (non-Formulary prescribing) is recognised, but it is expected that:

  • Formal treatment guidelines / protocols will exclude non-Formulary medicines.
  • Non-Formulary status will apply to new medicines until accepted for use by the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) and the Area Drug and Therapeutics Committee (ADTC) or the WoSF Regional Formulary committee. Further information regarding the SMC, including all previous decisions, can be found on their website: www.scottishmedicines.org.uk.
  • Non-Formulary prescribing may be necessary in some situations. Medicines not recommended for use by the SMC can be approved for use in individual patients using local governance processes including the Peer Approved Clinical System Tier 2 (PACS 2) and Individual Patient Treatment Request (IPTR) processes.

The main routes of access to medicines which are not recommended for use by the SMC or are awaiting evaluation are outlined below. The GGC Medicines website also has a useful flowchart to help determine which process to follow.

Peer Approved Clinical System Tier 2 (PACS 2)

PACS 2 is intended to be used for requests for licensed medicines and indications where:

  • The SMC has evaluated the medicine and indication and issued 'Not Recommended' advice, or;
  • The request relates to the use of a medicine outwith the SMC restrictions, or;
  • The medicine and indication have been submitted to the SMC, but the SMC are yet to issue advice.

 Individual Patient Treatment Requests (IPTRs)

The IPTR process is the route for requesting access to medicines in the following specific circumstances:

  • Where the SMC have issued 'Not Recommended' advice because the company has not made a submission to SMC for this medicine or indication, or;
  • Where a company have yet to make a submission to SMC for this medicine and indication, or;
  • Where the intended use of the medicine is outwith the SMC restrictions where these are based solely on the company requesting a selective positioning or sub-population.

Where to find Formulary information

Formulary information is accessible via the GGC Medicines website https://ggcmedicines.org.uk and blue menu button ’Medicines Formularies’ on the left-hand side. This provides access to the remaining NHSGGC Formulary chapters as well as to the new WoSF website chapters; click on the relevant blue button. Until the merger is complete, users may need to search both formularies to identify formulary treatment choices.

Users can continue to use the pink search box to check whether specific medicines are included in the NHSGGC Adult Medicines Formulary. If they cannot find the specific medicine, they are advised to check whether the relevant therapeutic chapter may now be published on the WoSF website. If the medicine is not published there, it should be considered non-Formulary.

If using the GGC Medicines App, formulary information is accessible by selecting the ‘hamburger’ button in the top left corner of the home screen and selecting ‘GGC Adult Medicines Formulary’ at the bottom of the screen; this will link to the GGC Medicines website with links to all relevant formularies.

Alternatively, the Medicines Guidance, Planning and Policy Team (see Appendix 6 for contact details), based within the Medicines Support Service in Glasgow Royal Infirmary, are happy to answer any specific queries where the information is not readily available.

 

Guideline reviewed: May 2026

Page updated: June 2026