<p>NHS England is working closely with clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) on the prescribing of liothyronine to support them with the implementation of guidance for CCGs on items which should not be routinely prescribed in primary care. The Department has not had specific discussions with NHS England or made an assessment on these issues.</p><p>CCGs are expected to have regard to national guidance, and are responsible for developing their own local approaches to its implementation taking into account local priorities and needs. CCGs set the policy which governs what hospitals and trusts implement, therefore the prescription of liothyronine at University Hospital Bristol and Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton is a matter for those CCGs.</p><p>This guidance for CCGs on items which should not be routinely prescribed in primary care includes recommendations on the use of liothyronine in line with the British Thyroid Association, who advise that a small proportion of patients treated with levothyroxine continue to suffer with symptoms despite adequate biochemical correction. In these circumstances,</p><p>where levothyroxine has failed and in line with this guidance, endocrinologists providing NHS services may recommend liothyronine for individual patients after a carefully audited trial of at least three months duration of the drug.</p><p>Further guidance on the prescribing of liothyronine has been published by the Regional Medicines Optimisation Committee. The aim of the guidance is to make best practice on the prescribing of liothyronine clearer. A copy of <em>Guidance – Prescribing of Liothyronine</em> is attached.</p>