The Medicines Committee is a collaborative standing committee with joint membership between RCPCH and Neonatal and Paediatric Pharmacy Group (NPPG). Meeting three times a year, it advises external agencies and supports a range of activities to ensure that the medications prescribed for children and young people are safe and effective and provided by appropriately trained healthcare professionals.
Key work areas
- Consultation - Responds to consultation documents from the Government and outside agencies, including the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) and Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) - see below for current consultations - see our consultation responses
- Lobbying - Advises and supports external agencies and parent/ carer bodies about the licensing, availability, use and surveillance of medicines in paediatric populations. This includes advising on medicines used outside the terms of their UK license, newly licensed products, unlicensed medicines for rare conditions and adverse reactions to medicines.
- Education - Supports education training and research in the field of safe prescribing
Support
The Medicines Committee supports a number of organisations:
- British National Formulary For Children (BNFC) - Inputs into policy issues on the development of this formulary and supports the production of future editions.
- Medicines for Children - Assists with the development of this resource, which has practical and reliable information and videos for parents, covering more than 100 medicines
- NIHR Clinical Research Network (CRN): Children Specialty - This is one of over 30 specialty therapy areas within the NIHR CRN, bringing together communities of clinical practice to provide national networks of research expertise, and working to support the implementation of research into NHS practice. We support its function in relation to promoting and supporting active and reactive research opportunities relevant to safe prescribing of medicines for children and young people
- Meds IQ on QI Central- Provides input into the governance and management of this online resource, which aims to improve medications safety in paediatric research and practice
Resources and updates
You can explore evidence-based information and updates in our Medicines resources section.
Contact
For more information about the Medicines Committee, and about medicines resources, email research@rcpch.ac.uk.