Five iodine contrast media templates have been published and gadolinium PGD templates should be available in the Spring.
Developed by the Specialist Pharmacy Service, NHS England, the Royal College of Radiologists, and the SCoR, all departments using iodinated contrast agents under PGDs are encouraged to adopt the templates
Sue Johnson, the Society professional officer who has led this work, expressed her gratitude to “all those departments who willingly shared their current PGDs and identified the challenges they faced in developing the documents.”
The PGD templates are customisable and can be adapted to reflect local policies and populations. Highlighted advisory text is included in the documents to support adoption of the PGD.
“National use of the templates will reduce variation for patients receiving contrast agents as part of an imaging procedure, as well as improving the quality of the patient experience through consistent use of the same model,” Sue Johnson said.
PGD templates are now available for Iomerprol (Iomeron), Iopamidol (Niopam), Iohexol (Omnipaque), Ioversol (Optiray) and Iodixanol (Visipaque).
Until legislative changes occur, the templates will be reviewed and re-released before reaching the ‘valid to’ date.
Sue continued, “Thanks also go to all members of the working party who made significant contributions and have ensured that these templates are usable, safe and reflect best practice.”
There is more information at the Specialist Pharmacy Service’s website.