Non-urgent advice: The ICB Medicines Sub-Committee
The NENC Integrated Care System now has one governance procedure through the ICB Medicines Sub-Committee. This is supported by Northern Treatment Advisory Group (NTAG) and its subgroups. Until guidance can be reviewed by the ICB Medicines Sub-Committee and its sub-groups all guidance and agreements previously approved by the predecessor three Area Prescribing Committees (APCs) of County Durham & Tees Valley; North of Tyne, Gateshead & North Cumbria; and South Tyneside & Sunderland are still valid. ICB approved prescribing guidance and agreements will be hosted on the NTAG website moving forward.
County Durham and Tees Valley Area Prescribing Committee
The County Durham & Tees Valley APC became the principal NHS decision making body for medicines related issues in the area covered by constituent organisations in July 2019 – superseding the Durham & Darlington APC, the Tees Medicines Governance Group and related bodies.
About the APC
The County Durham and Tees Valley Area Prescribing Committee (APC) was responsible from 2019 to 2023 for decision making and advice in relation to prescribing and medicines optimisation within services commissioned by:
- NHS Darlington CCG
- NHS Durham Dales, Easington & Sedgefield (DDES) CCG
- NHS Hambleton Richmondshire & Whitby (HRW) CCG
- NHS Hartlepool & Stockton on Tees (HaST) CCG
- NHS North Durham CCG and NHS South Tees CCG
and/or provided by:
- County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust (CDDFT)
- North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust (NTHFT)
- South Tees NHS Foundation Trust (STHFT)
- Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust (TEWV)
- and primary care independent contractor organisations aligned with those CCGs.
Terms of Reference, Policy Documents & Formulary Process
Annual Reports
Formulary and New Drug Requests
The County Durham and Tees Valley APC was responsible from 2019 to 2023 for approval of new drugs, extending the use of existing formulary drugs to new indications and for the production of the County Durham and Tees Valley Formulary — which provided details of medicines approved for use in County Durham, Darlington, Teesside and parts of North Yorkshire.
Decisions around new drug requests took into consideration safety, clinical effectiveness, and cost-effectiveness relative to other treatment options for the condition under discussion, as well as the potential available budget. Decisions were made on fully published trial data only.