Essential Share Care Agreements (ESCA's)
Essential Shared Care Agreements (ESCAs) are written agreements between specialist services and general practitioners, and allow care, specifically prescribing, to be safely shared between them. They are individual to a specific drug, and detail who is responsible for what aspect of care, and when early referral is required back to specialist services. They allow the seamless transfer of prescribing responsibility from the specialist services to general practice.
All ESCAs are agreed by the Trust's Medicines Optimisation Committee whose membership includes representatives from the local Primary Care Trusts. ESCAs are normally developed for all drugs, which are either specialist in nature, or that have specific monitoring requirements, e.g. a blood test is required at regular intervals.
It has been agreed by the Medicines Optimisation Committee, that where general practice refuses to enter into a shared care agreement for a drug that has been pronounced on by NICE as appropriate for shared care, the clinician should complete the Proforma for ESCA Refused by General Practice in order that the Trust can charge the CCG appropriately.
In order that we do not charge the CCG inappropriately it is essential that, when the service is no longer providing the prescription, the clinician informs us by completing the ESCA Refused by General Practice - Service no longer prescribing as soon as possible.
Agreements
E043 Fluoxetine in Children and Adolescents
E044 ADHD in Adults
E050 Atypical Antipsychotics for Challenging Behaviour in DNLD
E051 Antipsychotic Depots and LAIs
E052 Drugs for Dementia
E056 Melatonin
E057 ADHD in Children and Adolescents
E058 Disulfiram
Prescribing Guidelines
Guidelines for Antipsychotics in Dementia - Shrops and T&W
Guidelines for Antipsychotics in Dementia - South Staffs Locality
Prescribing Guidelines - Melatonin
Lithium Monitoring Booklets
Lithium Pack Order Form
When initiating a patient on Lithium please ensure that you provide a Lithium Monitoring Booklet to the patient/service user/carer and discuss with them the monitoring requirements. Copies of the booklet can be obtained by completing the Lithium Pack Order Form
Community Children's Nurses (CCNs) Administration Agreements
E049 Piperacillin with Tazobactam
CCN ESCA Standing Operating Procedure
