For patients and the public
Learn about the formulary and how it is used to support the prescribing of medicines
What is a formulary?
A formulary is a list of medicines that are available for routine use in a Health Board. It offers a choice of medicines for healthcare professionals to prescribe for most medical conditions. The medicine recommendations are usually accompanied by other information (e.g. treatment guidelines for medical conditions) to help healthcare professionals make decisions when treating an individual.
Clinical experts consider whether to add new medicines to a formulary. They use advice published by the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC). When SMC considers a new medicine for the NHS in Scotland, it looks at:
- how well the medicine works
- which patients might benefit from it
- whether it's as good or better than medicines the NHS already uses to treat the medical condition
- whether it's good value for money
Sometimes established medicines are a better choice than new medicines. If clinical experts in a Health Board decide not to make a medicine available for use, other medicines are usually available on the formulary to treat the specific medical condition.
What are the benefits of having a formulary?
A formulary helps to make sure that you receive high quality medicines that are safe and work well. A medicine’s effectiveness is the most important reason for including it in a formulary. All medicines in a formulary have a proven track record in clinical drug trials and have shown their worth in everyday practice.
As doctors become more familiar with a limited range of medicines, this helps to reduce prescribing errors and improve safety for patients. By using a limited list of medicines it is easier for community pharmacies to stock supplies of your medicines. Use of a formulary promotes consistent prescribing and you benefit by getting the same medicines from your GP as you will in local hospitals. This helps make the best use of NHS resources for everyone.
Which formulary does my Health Board use?
The formulary provided on this website is used by NHS Borders, NHS Fife and NHS Lothian. Details of other Health Board formularies can be accessed via their websites:
- NHS Ayrshire and Arran
- NHS Dumfries and Galloway
- NHS Forth Valley
- NHS Grampian, NHS Orkney and NHS Shetland
- NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde
- NHS Highland and NHS Western Isles
- NHS Lanarkshire
- NHS Tayside
Can I be prescribed a medicine that’s not on my Health Board’s formulary?
If a medicine is not included on your Health Board’s formulary and there are no suitable alternatives on it, a healthcare professional can request to prescribe another medicine if they think you'll benefit from using it. All Health Boards have procedures in place to consider requests when a healthcare professional feels another medicine would be right for a particular person.
Where can I find more information on medicines and healthcare?
Patient information leaflets
Websites
| NHS Inform | NHS Inform is Scotland's national health information service. Their aim is to provide the people in Scotland with accurate and relevant information to help them make informed decisions about their own health and the health of the people they care for. |
| NHS 24 | NHS 24 provides information on health and self care. |
| Patient | This independent website provides information about health, disease, medicines and related topics for patients and healthcare professionals. |
| Medicines for Children | This website is supported by a national children's charity, specialist doctors and pharmacists and provides information about giving medicines to children. It provides information leaflets for many medicines commonly prescribed for children and written/visual information about how to administer medicines, such as tablets, suspensions, eye drops etc. |
| Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) | SMC provides advice to NHS Scotland about the value for patients of every newly licensed medicine. SMC welcomes involvement from members of the public to help SMC Committee members to fully understand how a new medicine impacts the quality of life of patients and carers. Further details on this can be found here. |
| Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) | HIS are a national body which supports NHS Scotland to provide high quality, safe, effective care and has a role in examining health service provision in order to assure the public that good quality and safety standards are being delivered. |
| Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) | The MHRA is a government agency which is responsible for regulation of drug and medical device safety. Their website provides information on drug safety issues and how to report a side-effect or defect in a drug or medical device. |
| Electronic Medicines Compendium (eMC) | This website, supported by the pharmaceutical industry, provides information from manufacturers about medicines supplied in the UK. |