The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 277 No 7426 p568
11 November 2006

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NHS specials database previewed

A decision support tool to help NHS pharmacy staff identify and source unlicensed products made by NHS manufacturing units was previewed to delegates at a Guild of Healthcare Pharmacists Procurement and Distribution Interest Group autumn symposium last week.

Tim Root, specialist pharmacist, clinical governance and technical services for London, East and South East specialist pharmacy services, demonstrated how the Pro-File website could be used.

Mr Root explained that a product list has been compiled, which currently stands at about 2,500 lines, containing core data for all products that are being manufactured and used by the NHS.

He said: “Access to Pro-File is by registration and only bona-fide NHS pharmacy staff with an NHS e-mail address are eligible to register. The site will only include product data from NHS manufacturing units and will not be accessible outside the NHS.”

Mr Root said that Pro-File will offer would-be purchasers a list of contact details of all manufacturers on the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s register of manufacturers holding a specials licence.

He made it clear that Pro-File is not an ordering system and that the final decision about what to buy and from where is entirely the purchaser’s.

NHS manufacturing units currently have access to the database and are in the process of adding their inventories.

“The quality and scope of the product-specific information, such as pack size, label details, excipient details and formulation information, is entirely down to the manufacturer; there is an expectation that all licensed NHS manufacturers will contribute their data,” Mr Root said.

Mr Root expects that the product data will be sufficiently comprehensive and robust for Pro-File to be actively promoted to NHS procurement staff by the end of this year.

“Pro-File will highlight ‘preferred’ products, such as those listed in the BNF and those for which clinical expert groups, such as the British Association of Dermatologists, have expressed a preference,” he said.