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Frequently asked questions
Surrey Heartlands Joint Formulary & Prescribing Advisory Database (PAD) - Frequently Asked Questions
Q – What is the Joint Formulary?
A – The Surrey Heartlands Joint Formulary brings together the current medicine formularies for ASPH, RSFT, SASH, SABP and Primary Care.
The Joint Formulary replaces the existing formularies and presents the medicines-related decisions from the Surrey Heartlands Area Prescribing Committee and the Drugs & Therapeutics Committees (or equivalent).
The Joint Formulary links with the information on the existing Surrey PAD which hosts additional information such as: local and national guidelines, committee papers, safety information, patient resources etc
(Note – there are a few therapeutic areas that are still scheduled for review and will be uploaded to the formulary in the coming months. Please refer to the newsfeed on the Home page for an up-to-date list of outstanding areas)
Q – Why do we need a Joint Formulary?
A – The Joint Formulary will reduce the administrative burden of managing five separate formularies and the costs associated with them.
Surrey Heartlands has operated a system-wide Area Prescribing Committee for many years whereby medicines are awarded a colour-classification (Traffic Light status) to clarify place in therapy and ensure that the right medicines are available to prescribe in the right settings. It therefore makes sense to bring this decision-making into a single platform that is accessible to all of our system partners.
It is the intention that a Joint Formulary will support a more consistent approach to medicines use across Surrey and avoid the inequity of care that can result from operating independently.
That said, the Joint Formulary platform has been designed to allow for variation in the use of medicines within the separate Trusts due to differences in commissioned service provision (not all Trusts are commissioned to provide the same services) and to support the independent nature of the current Drugs & Therapeutics Committees (or equivalent).
Q – Who does the Formulary apply to?
A – The Joint Formulary is applicable to all prescribers who have a responsibility for treating the patients of Surrey Heartlands and include (but not limited to):
- General Practices / GP Federations within Surrey Heartlands ICB
- Ashford & St Peters Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (ASPH)
- Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust (RSFT)
- Surrey & Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust (SASH)
- Surrey & Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (SABP)
- Central Surrey Health Limited (CSH Surrey)
- First Community Health & Care (FCHC)
- HCRG Care Group
Q – How is this new platform different from PAD?
A – The PAD content was compiled over many years and contained the decisions made by the Surrey Heartlands Area Prescribing Committee (APC) and its predecessor organisations. The drugs included on PAD were only those that had been discussed and agreed by the APC. As such, there were many drugs without an entry on PAD, particularly older drugs with an established place in therapy and drugs that are used only in a hospital setting.
The Joint Formulary is a combined list of all drugs included on the formularies of ASPH, RSFT, SASH and SABP. The formulary is presented in a list format, with drugs grouped by Indication and designed so that the user can see a list of all the drugs used for a specific indication and their agreed colour classification (Traffic Light status).
Q – Is the PAD information still available?
A – Yes. All of the drugs in the formulary have a PAD page. This is accessed by clicking on a drug name in the Formulary list.
The PAD page continues to host any local / national guidelines and other resources that have been agreed at the APC or Trust DTCs.
The PAD page may also provide further clarity with regard to safety advice, place in therapy, and the decisions made by the APC / DTCs.
Non-drug PAD pages are also available. These include the pages that host newsletters, guides for Care Homes, Medication review resources etc and can be found by entering commonly used search terms in the Search box.
Q – How is the Joint Formulary different from my Acute Trust formulary?
A – The new Joint Formulary & PAD platform will look different to your current Trust formulary. However, the Joint Formulary utilises the same colour classification (Traffic light status) as previously used across Surrey.
The platform can be searched in one of two ways:
- The Search function - Enter a drug name, indication / condition, commonly used term and hit enter or click the Search button
- The A to Z of Drugs - Select the first letter of the drug that you are looking for (the drugs are listed alphabetically by their international non-proprietary (generic) name)
You will see that each drug is accompanied by a Traffic Light status, indication for use, formulation (if applicable) and any additional restrictions / comments to support appropriate use.
Important - Your Trust will have a ü to indicate that the drug / formulation is available for you to prescribe or a X where the drug has not been agreed for use at your Trust. Contact a member of your Pharmacy Team for advice if necessary.
Links to NICE and the SPCs are also provided to facilitate quick access to additional, clinical information.
Q – Why are some drugs not on formulary at all local Trusts?
A - Whilst it has been possible to align the formulary status for many drugs, there are also numerous drugs that do not have the same formulary status at each Trust. This may be due to the independent nature of the Drugs & Therapeutic Committees or the fact that our Trusts are not necessarily commissioned to provide the same, specialised services. For example, drugs used for the treatment of Hepatitis C are only on formulary at RSFT because they are commissioned to provide the Hep C Operational Delivery Network.
It is anticipated that there will be further alignment and integration of medicines decision-making that will further reduce the differences between the Trust formularies.
Q – What should I do if I see a potential error in the information on the Formulary or PAD?
A – Please use the “Contact Us” link on the Home page and select the contact for your organisation.
The Formulary contains several thousand entries and is comprised of the previous formularies of ASPH, RSFT, SASH and SABP. Whilst every effort has been made to accurately capture all appropriate content, it is possible that something may have been missed or entered incorrectly.
Particularly for the first few months post-launch, we would like to hear from you if you think that there are any omissions (drugs that you would expect to be on formulary but are not appearing in your search) or any content that you feel is incorrect.
Q – What should I do if I can’t find what I’m searching for?
- Check your spelling. Drug names must be spelled correctly.
- Enter an alternative search term.
- Avoid abbreviations / acronyms / brand names (although many commonly used terms and brand names are included within the system to aid successful searching)
- Use the A-Z drugs list (drugs are listed by their international non-proprietary (generic) name)
- Contact us if you think that there is an omission or incorrect information on the formulary (the Contact Us link is on the Home page)
- If the drug you are searching for is not included on the formulary, it may not appear in your search results. Please contact a member of your Pharmacy / Medicines Optimisation Team to discuss an addition to the formulary or alternative treatment options.
Q – Can I use the Contact Us function for raising clinical enquiries with the pharmacy team?
A – No. The Contact Us function is only to be used for raising questions / giving feedback about the site content or to advise us of a potential error / omission.
The recipients of the Contact Us emails will not be able to respond to clinical enquiries, nor will the emails be monitored continuously.
If you have a clinical enquiry, please contact your Pharmacy or Medicines optimisation Team as per current arrangements. Thank you.
Q - How can I save the website so that it is easy for me to access again?
A – A QR code and advice on creating a Bookmark will be provided in communications, and on the new platform at the point of launch (22nd May 2025).
Q – Who can access the Formulary and PAD?
A – The Joint Formulary & PAD is a freely accessible website which is available to the public.
Q – How are new drugs or documents added to the platform?
A - All formulary decisions have been agreed through the Surrey Heartlands Area Prescribing Committee (APC) or the Drugs & Therapeutics Committee of one or more Surrey Heartlands Hospital Trusts. A new drug will not be added to the formulary unless the appropriate governance processes have been followed.
Any documents or weblinks must also be agreed through appropriate governance processes before upload to the platform.
Contact a member of your Pharmacy or Medicines Optimisation Team for advice if you wish to have something published on the platform.
Q – Who can make changes to the information on the Formulary and PAD?
A – The content of the Joint Formulary & PAD is maintained by a member of the Pharmacy Team from each Trust (ASPH, RSFT, SASH, SABP) and a few members of the ICB Medicines Optimisation Team. Administration of the platform is supported by robust governance processes to ensure the accuracy and appropriateness of its content.
Q – How can I get a new drug added to the Formulary?
A – An entry onto the formulary can only be made via your Trust Drugs & Therapeutics Committee (or equivalent) or the Surrey Heartlands Area Prescribing Committee (APC).
Please contact a member of your Pharmacy or Medicines Optimisation Team for advice if you wish to add a drug to the formulary.