eMC In-Demand

If my product has been acquired by another manufacturer should I just discontinue my product?

No. By discontinuing the product from your portfolio it will present incorrect historical data in NHS dictionary of medicines and devices (dm+d). To reflect the true history of this product we must amend the supplier details to the company acquiring the product from the effective date. A product acquisition change is not possible using In-Demand.

Please email us at nhsbsa.indemandppdsupport@nhs.net if your product is being taken over by another supplier or if you've acquired it from another company.

Please also tell us the exact reason why you are discontinuing the product so that we make sure that we are updating your portfolio correctly.

I’m submitting a price update and am unsure which price to input as two different prices for the same product are available on our pricelist. Which price do you require or do I input both?

For all submissions we expect to receive the NHS list price for the individual pack size listed on dm+d.  Occasionally within some pharmaceutical company pricelists the price is actually a total of the outer pack sizes that the product is supplied in. In order to supply the correct NHS list price relevant to the pack size listed on dm+d the individual pack size price must be calculated from the number of outer packs. Typically, this is the total price of the outer pack divided by the number of individual packs within the outer pack.

Example

ACBDE 500gram powder – supplied in an outer pack of 4 x 500g – Price is £50.00

NHS price is £50 divided by 4 – individual pack price – Price is £12.50

I’m submitting a pack update with an EAN code update; do I have to submit an SPC as part of the submission?

No. Although the inclusion of an SPC is a mandatory part of a submission through In-Demand a simple word document with a line stating ‘EAN code submission only – no SPC required’ is sufficient for us to process your information.

My company lists prices as both trade and retail. Which price do you need through In-Demand for use within dm+d?

The price used within dm+d is the NHS list or trade price (excluding VAT)

Could you clarify for which types of products the ‘gluten free’ indicator applies when submitting information via In-Demand?

From a dm+d policy perspective, the gluten free indicator is able to be applied to any licensed or unlicensed product that falls within the following criteria.

Gluten free products are those stated in the:

• Drug Tariff as being ‘Gluten-Free products’
• British National Formulary as being ‘gluten-free’
• Manufacturer’s Summary of Product Characteristics as being ‘gluten-free’

I have a new injection to submit with different vial sizes and could be represented differently depending on the strength, how should these injections be sent via In-Demand?

Injections are represented on dm+d as the strength of drug per size of vial. For example, if a new product is to be added and the SPC trade name states ABCD 10mg/ml injection and is available as vials of 5ml, 10ml and 20ml then 3 new products should be sent.

The strengths for such products should be represented as ABCD 50mg/5ml, ABCD 100mg/10ml and ABCD 200mg/20ml.

In which situations would you expect limited stability to be indicated for a product?

Some preparations require a diluent or vehicle to be added to the pack. If the resultant liquid preparation has a stability of 13 days or less, the preparation should be marked as having limited stability.

Limited stability does not apply to injections containing a diluent vial which are reconstituted prior to administration to a patient.

If I send an update through the In-Demand facility when can we expect to see the changes on the dm+d browser?

We prioritise updates according to the date that your update applies from.  Following our acceptance of your submission updates, you should be able to see your updates on In-Demand or on the dm+d browser on the next available extract after the date that you’ve told us your updates apply.

The dm+d extract takes place overnight every Thursday and the dm+d browser and In-Demand application will be updated with this information on the Monday following your effective date.

I have sent my updates through In-Demand but have had no acknowledgement to say that you are dealing with them.  How do I know that they are being actioned?

If you haven't received a return email, this maybe because your company has not authorised the message.  You can check your update message status on In-Demand.

Log into In-Demand and click on the tab marked ‘Active’ which will display the following options, ‘Submissions available for editing’, ‘Submissions awaiting company authorisation’ and ‘Submissions being processed’.

I have submitted a product update through In-Demand six weeks after I started the update and have had a reply to say that my message has failed and I will need to copy and resend.  Why?

The main reason that you have received a message to do this is to do with the core coding structure of the dm+d.  When we receive your update it will be automatically validated against the core code or ‘snomed’ criteria.  If the core code is changed while you are making your update then the automatic check will flag up that there is a difference and will not validate your update.  It will then send you an automated response to tell you.

If you are not sure about why your submission failed, please contact us.

When we have any changes to any of our product submissions we always submit a message. Do you need all of this information?

You should use In-Demand to make submissions for medicinal products that are used in primary or secondary care and which are licensed and available in the UK. Submissions should only be for marketed packs and not all the packs that you are licensed to manufacture.

Further information and guidance can be found in the In-Demand user manual under the heading ‘When to create a submission and which type?’