Filters should be used during the administration of Parenteral Nutrition for patients in all care settings DSI/2026/011
Read and act on the official notice on GOV.UK
In plain English, for the pharmacy team
Why is this relevant to community pharmacy
Parenteral nutrition is a special feed given into the bloodstream, often for patients at home or in other care settings. The notice says using it without a filter has been linked to serious harm, including a fatal embolism. This is relevant to pharmacists, dispensers and assistants who supply, prepare, or support home parenteral nutrition and its giving sets.
What to tell patients
Use your professional judgement for each patient.
- Parenteral nutrition is a feed given directly into the bloodstream.
- Filters should be used when it is given, to help stop unwanted particles entering the bloodstream.
- An integrated filter may already be part of the giving set. If not, an add-on filter will be needed.
- If you or a family member give parenteral nutrition at home and an add-on filter is needed, you should be given training on this.
- Speak to your healthcare professional if you are worried about the use of filters with your parenteral nutrition.
- Report suspected side effects to parenteral nutrition on a Yellow Card.
What needs to be done
- Check whether your pharmacy supplies parenteral nutrition or giving sets for home use, and make sure staff know filters are part of standard use.
- Pharmacists: confirm local procedures for parenteral nutrition include filter use as standard practice.
- Pharmacists: when supplying or supporting parenteral nutrition, make sure the product is given through a filter with a pore size no larger than 1.2µm.
- Pharmacists: where the solution is aqueous/lipid-free, it is good practice to use a 0.2µm filter.
- Make sure integrated filters are used where they are part of the administration set; add-on filters are suitable if infection control guidance is followed.
- Make sure filters and administration sets are changed with each new parenteral nutrition container, following local infection control policy and the filter shelf-life.
- Report suspected adverse reactions associated with parenteral nutrition on a Yellow Card.
- Read and act on the official GOV.UK notice.
Pharmshark summary, checked and approved by Chris Dotchin on 2 Nov 2026. It is not the official notice: always read and act on the GOV.UK notice.
How this summary was written
An AI tool drafted it from the MHRA's own notice and nothing else. A second check compared every line with the notice. Pharmshark's clinical lead then read it against the notice, edited it where needed and approved it. If the MHRA changes the notice, this summary is taken down until it has been checked again.
The MHRA's summary
Administration of parenteral nutrition without a filter has been associated with a number of adverse incidents including an embolism which resulted in a fatal outcome.
MHRA's audience tags: Anaesthetics, Cancer, Care home staff, Critical care, Emergency medicine, General practice, General surgery, Gi hepatology pancreatic disorders, Haematology oncology, Nutrition dietetics, Paediatrics, Pain management palliation