Aims
and Responsibilities:
- The Exceptional Medicinal
Treatment (EMT) Unit is responsible for assessing exceptional medicinal
treatment requests.
- It aims to provide access to
evidence-based, cost-effective medicinal treatment for individuals with an
exceptional need for treatment not currently provided by the Government
Heath Service.
- The DPA EMT Unit provides a means
for the consideration of pharmaceutical funding for patients in
exceptional circumstances who would otherwise not have access to needed
medication. Access to medication aimed to decrease disease morbidity,
would eventually translate into a diminished use of other health state
resources such a decreased hospital admissions/length of stay.
- The DPA EMT Unit is in constant
liaison with MDH, POYC and CPSU in order to ensure that the most
cost-effective drugs reach exceptional patients in the shortest time
possible with maximisation of resources.
The
EMT Process in Brief:
- Requests for medicinals for
individual patients are submitted by consultants/delegates and reviewed by
EMT pharmacists. It is important that EMT Request Forms are fully filled
in and full information is submitted in order to allow for a holistic
review of the requested drug for the specific indication.
- Reviews consist of detailed
reports on rationale for drug use, drug efficacy and safety as informed
from scientific literature, recommended guidelines for treatment published
by recognised international bodies, cost of treatment and cost comparison
with alternative treatments.
- Reviews are then presented to the
appropriate authorities for their consideration based on the evidence
presented.
- Clinicians are consulted for
further clarification when necessary.
- When a medicinal which is not procured through the National Health Service (non-formulary) is approved, the item is procured on a named-patient basis.