In the absence of, or whilst awaiting publication of health technology assessment advice, some pharmaceutical companies might wish to offer NHS Wales a free of charge medicine supply agreement to enable patients and clinicians access to a particular medicine at no cost.
The all-Wales free of charge medicine supply guidance introduces new controls to ensure equity and consistency in patient and clinician access to medicines offered to NHS Wales as free of charge.
Health board chief pharmacists and AWTTC co-ordinate the free of charge medicine supply agreements on behalf of NHS Wales.
Normally, this guidance only applies to newly licensed medicines, where the marketing authorisation holder has engaged in health technology assessment by AWMSG or NICE, and where the recommendation remains outstanding.
However, the guidance has been temporarily updated to include the compassionate supply of unlicensed medicines during the COVID-19 pandemic. See Appendix 2 of the guidance document for details about the process for the consideration of such medicines during the pandemic and for the associated submission form.
N.B. The update in May 2020 to include compassionate supply of unlicensed medicines during the COVID-19 pandemic remains in place until further notice.
Download: All-Wales free of charge medicine supply guidance (includes submission forms)