Eye drops
Unit dose eye drops
Long acting gel drops (Timolol LA®)
Levobunolol
Formulary
Eye drops
Unit dose eye drops
Betaxolol
Formulary
Eye drops
Unit dose eye drops
Carteolol (Teoptic®)
Formulary
Eye drops
11.06
Prostaglandin analogues
Latanoprost
First Choice
Eye drops
Single-use eye drops
Bimatoprost (Lumigan®)
Formulary
Eye drops
Single-use eye drops
Travoprost (Travatan®)
Formulary
Eye drops
Does not contain benzalkonium chloride as the preservative and therefore may be used in patients where a known allergy to benzalkonium chloride exists.
Latanoprost 0.005% with Timolol 0.5%
Formulary
Eye drops
Combination products are licensed for once daily use where prostaglandin analogue alone is not adequate. Only use where patient has difficulty with compliance/administration.
Bimatoprost with Timolol (Ganfort®)
Formulary
Eye drops
Single-use eye drops
Combination products are licensed for once daily use where prostaglandin analogue alone is not adequate. Only use where patient has difficulty with compliance/administration.
Travoprost with Timolol (DuoTrav®)
Formulary
Eye drops
Does not contain benzalkonium chloride as the preservative and therefore may be used in patients where a known allergy to benzalkonium chloride exists.
Combination products are licensed for once daily use where prostaglandin analogue alone is not adequate. Only use where patient has difficulty with compliance/administration.
11.06
Sympathomimetics
Brimonidine Tartrate (Alphagan®)
First Choice
Eye drops
Apraclonidine (Iopidine®)
Formulary
Eye drops
Ophthalmic consultant initiation only: Apraclonidine can be used long term for certain complex glaucoma cases where surgery is high risk. See also section 11.8.
1% - unlicensed use
Brimonidine Tartrate 0.2% with Timolol 0.5% (Combigan®)
Formulary
Eye drops
Combination products are licensed for use when beta blocker monotherapy does not provide adequate treatment. Only use where patient has difficulty with compliance/administration.
11.06
Carbonic anhydrase inhibitors and systemic drugs
Brinzolamide (Azopt®)
First Choice
Eye drops
Dorzolomide
Formulary
Eye drops
Unit dose eye drops
Brinzolamide 1% with Timolol 0.5% (Azarga®)
Formulary
Eye drops
Only use combination products where patient has difficulty with compliance/administration.
Dorzolomide 2% with Timolol 0.5%
Formulary
Eye drops
Unit dose eye drops
Only use combination products when patient has difficulty with compliance/administration.
Drugs designated amber are suitable for shared care arrangements under a shared care protocol.
Prescribing may be transferred from secondary to primary care once the patient is stabilised and agreed shared care arrangements have been established. Alternatively primary care may initiate under the supervision of secondary care if this option is given in the shared care document. It is recommended that shared care arrangements should be drawn up following local discussion and agreement by prescribing parties.
These products have been reviewed by the GM Joint Formulary Group and have been deemed not suitable for prescribing for adults in primary or secondary care within Greater Manchester. These decisions have been made on the basis of safety, efficacy and cost-effectiveness of the products.
Not used
Drugs designated green1 are suitable for initiation and ongoing prescribing within primary care.
Drugs designated green2 can be initiated by primary care following written or verbal advice from a specialist and then be subsequently safely prescribed in primary care with little or no monitoring required.
Drugs designated green3 are suitable for on-going prescribing within primary care after specialist initiation and an initial review (unless specified) in secondary care. Little or no monitoring is required.
Not suitable for routine prescribing but may be suitable for a defined patient population. Whilst prescribers should think very carefully before prescribing or recommending any of the products on the grey list, there may be exceptional instances when the use of one of these products is necessary for a particular patient.
Drugs designated red are considered to be specialist medicines and prescribing responsibility for these medicines should normally remain with the consultant or specialist clinician. These drugs should not be initiated or prescribed in primary care. It is recommended that the supply of these specialist medicines should be organised via the hospital pharmacy, this may include arranging for supply via a home care company.
Ophthalmic consultant initiation only: Apraclonidine can be used long term for certain complex glaucoma cases where surgery is high risk. See also section 11.8.
1% - unlicensed use
