The Government Formulary List (GFL) comprises
of medicinal products, vitamins, food supplements and borderline
substances. Medicinal products are either listed as non-proprietary medicines
according to the International Non-proprietary Name (INN) or as a therapeutic
class.
The GFL is divided into two separate
documents, the Hospital Formulary, and the Outpatients Formulary.
The Hospital Formulary is intended for use by Government Hospitals. It includes
the INN/therapeutic class of the medicinal products, the dosage form and
strength, the disease category, the ATC code, the prescriber
criteria, and the specific department for which a medicine is being
procured. At times, an entitlement protocol is assigned to
a medicinal product, to restrict its use within the National Health
Service. The list of medicine protocols is available here.
The Outpatients Formulary is intended for use
by the Pharmacy of Your Choice (POYC) scheme and government pharmacies. It
includes the INN/therapeutic class of the medicinal products, the dosage
form and strength, the ATC code, the prescriber criteria and information on the Pink Card positive
entitlement, i.e. entitlement to a particular medicine for those patients
in possession of a Schedule II document (also known as Pink Card). Moreover, medicines listed on the Outpatients Formulary are
mapped to the corresponding chronic conditions as per schedule V of the Social
Security Act. Like the Hospital Formulary, certain medicines are also restricted
with an entitlement protocol.